''Amphisbaena steindachneri'' is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
worm lizard
Amphisbaenia (called amphisbaenians or worm lizards) is a group of typically legless lizards, comprising over 200 extant species. Amphisbaenians are characterized by their long bodies, the reduction or loss of the limbs, and rudimentary eyes. As ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Amphisbaenidae
The Amphisbaenidae (common name: worm lizards) are a Family (biology), family of amphisbaenians, a group of limbless vertebrates. There are 12 genera, containing 183 species.
Geographic range
Amphisbaenids occur in South America, some Caribbean ...
. The species is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
.
Etymology
The
specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
, ''steindachneri'', is in honor of Austrian herpetologist
Franz Steindachner
Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner des ...
.
[Boelens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Cercolophia steindachneri'', p. 252).]
Geographic range
''A. steindachneri'' is found in
Bolivia
Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
,
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, and
Paraguay
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
.
Habitat
The preferred natural
habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
of ''A. steindachneri'' is
savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
.
[
]
Reproduction
''A. steindachneri'' is oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...
.[
]
References
Further reading
* Boulenger GA (1885). ''Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume II. ... Amphisbænidæ''. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 497 pp. + Plates I-XXIV. (''Amphisbæna steindachneri'', pp. 444–445).
* Dirksen L, De la Riva IJ (2000). "The lizards and amphisbaenians of Bolivia (Reptilia, Squamata): checklist, localities, and bibliography". ''Graellsia'' 55: 199–215. (''Cercolophia steindachneri)''.
* Gans C (2005). "Checklist and Bibliography of the Amphisbaenia of the World". ''Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History'' (289): 1–130. (''Cercolophia steindachneri'', p. 26).
* Mott T, Vieites DR (2009). "Molecular phylogenetics reveals extreme morphological homoplasy in Brazilian worm lizards challenging current taxonomy". ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 51 (2): 190–200. (''Amphisbaena steindachneri)''.
* Strauch A (1881). "''Bemerkungen über die Eidechsenfamilie der Amphisbaeniden'' ". ''Mélanges biologiques tirés du Bulletin physico-mathématique de l'Académie impériale des Sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg'' 1: 355–479. (''Amphisbaena steindachneri'', new species, p. 407). (in German).
steindachneri
Reptiles of Bolivia
Amphisbaenians of Brazil
Reptiles of Paraguay
Reptiles described in 1881
Taxa named by Alexander Strauch
{{amphisbaenidae-stub