''Chirindia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

amphisbaenians 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 ...

. Commonly known as pink round-headed worm lizards,

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), ...

in the genus ''Chirindia'' are native to

East Africa East Africa, also known as Eastern Africa or the East of Africa, is a region at the eastern edge of the Africa, African continent, distinguished by its unique geographical, historical, and cultural landscape. Defined in varying scopes, the regi ...

and

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

, from

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. They are unpigmented worm lizards with rounded heads, and extensive fusion of the head shields.

Description

''Chirindia'' are small and slender. For example, the

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

of ''C. swynnertoni'' is long, with the tail , and the body is in diameter. They are uniformly, unpigmented flesh-coloured, tinged with purplish, and have minute teeth. They usually lack an ocular shield, and each eye is situated under the posterior part of a large fused shield, that combines the nasal, second and sometimes first upper labial, prefrontal and sometimes the ocular shield into one, so as to cover all of one side of the snout. (''Chirindia'', new genus, p. 48; ''C. swynnertoni'', new species, pp. 48-49). The pair of large shields, fused with the ocular to cover each side of the snout, combined with a small azygous rostral shield, are comparable to that of genus '' Placogaster'' of the

Senegambia The Senegambia (other names: Senegambia region or Senegambian zone,Barry, Boubacar, ''Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade'', (Editors: David Anderson, Carolyn Brown; trans. Ayi Kwei Armah; contributors: David Anderson, American Council of Le ...

, but the paired ventral shields, and absence of pre-anal pores in some species distinguish them.

Behaviour and predators

Species in the genus ''Chirindia'' burrow in loose soil and feed on termites. They are present in clay, sandy or alluvial soils, and sometimes find refuge under stones and rotten logs. They are preyed on by jackals, ratels,

kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

s and snakes, of which some, like the dwarf wolf snake ('' Lycophidion nanum''), are specialized to prey on them.

Species and subspecies

The genus ''Chirindia'' contains five valid species, some of which have recognized

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

. *'' Chirindia ewerbecki'' – Mbanja worm lizard **''Chirindia ewerbecki ewerbecki'' **''Chirindia ewerbecki nanguruwensis'' *'' Chirindia langi'' – Lang's worm lizard Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Chirindia langi'', p. 150; ''C. swynnertoni'', p. 259). **''Chirindia langi langi'' **''Chirindia langi occidentalis'' – Soutpansberg worm lizard *'' Chirindia mpwapwaensis'' – Mpwapwa worm lizard *''

Chirindia rondoensis The Nchingidi worm lizard (''Chirindia rondoensis'') is a species of amphisbaenian in the family Amphisbaenidae. The species is endemic to Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the ...

'' – Nchingidi worm lizard * '' Chirindia swynnertoni'' – Swynnerton's worm lizard ''

Nota bene ( ; plural: ) is the Latin language, Latin phrase meaning ''note well''. In manuscripts, ''nota bene'' is abbreviated in upper-case as NB and N.B., and in lower-case as n.b. and nb; the editorial usages of ''nota bene'' and ''notate bene'' fi ...

'': A

binomial authority In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

or trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species or subspecies was originally described in a genus other than ''Chirindia''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q39012 Lizards of Africa Lizard genera Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger