Anomochilus monticola

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Kinabalu giant blind snake

Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Anomochilidae
Genus: Anomochilus
Species:
A. monticola
Binomial name
Anomochilus monticola
Das [fr], Lakim, Lim & Hui, 2008[2]

Anomochilus monticola, the Kinabalu giant blind snake,

iridescent blue-black in color, with a deep brown belly, large pale horn-colored blotches along the underside, a chrome orange band around the tail, a pale creamy-yellow bar across the snout
, and pale horn-colored speckles along its sides. It can be told apart from the other species in its genus by its large size, the absence of a stripe along its sides, and the lack of pale blotches on its back.

The species is nocturnal and

live young. The IUCN Red List currently classifies A. monticola as being data deficient
due to a lack of information about its range and threats to the species.

Taxonomy and systematics

Anomochilus monticola was first

type locality, Mount Kinabalu.[2]

A. monticola is one of three species in the dwarf pipesnake

paraphyletic (not containing all the descendants of a common ancestor) with respect to Anomochilidae, and some authorities merge the latter family into the former.[6][7]

Description

Like other species in its genus, A. monticola is cylindrical, with a small, rounded head and short, conical tail.

dorsum (upper body), with a chrome orange ring around the tail and a pale creamy-yellow bar across the snout. The underside is uniformly dark brown with large pale horn-colored blotches. The blotches occur in pairs, from the throat down to the tail. The species also has smaller pale horn-colored speckles along its sides.[2] The head is continuous with the neck and, despite the fossorial (adapted to living underground) nature of the species, the snout has no reinforcements to aid in burrowing.[5] The dorsum is smooth, with slightly larger scales than the underside.[2]

A. monticola has 19 rows of scales (excluding

postocular scale, and the lack of a mental groove.[2]

It can be differentiated from the two other species in its genus, which both also occur on Borneo, by its significantly larger size and a combination of coloration and scalation. It differs from A. weberi in lacking pale stripes along its sides and having an unpaired parietofrontal scale on the forehead. It can be distinguished from A. leonardi by the absence of pale patches bordering the vertebral scales and the number of midventral scales (monticola has 258–261, compared to 214–252 for leonardi).[2]

Distribution and habitat

A. monticola is currently only known from Kinabalu Park in

leaf litter.[2]

Ecology and conservation

A. monticola is nocturnal and fossorial.

live young.[3][5]

The species is currently classified as being data deficient by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to a lack of information about its range and threats affecting it. Its known range falls entirely with the protected Kinabalu Park.[1]

References

  1. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2012-1.RLTS.T191983A2023863.en
    . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. ^
    S2CID 85684485
    .
  3. ^
    OCLC 455823617
    .
  4. ^ "Anomochilus monticola Mountain Pipe Snake". Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  5. ^
    OCLC 1356003917
    .
  6. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0469.2005.00315.x
    .
  7. S2CID 245849898
    .


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