Leposternon

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Cladus: Unidentata Episquamata

Subordo: Lacertoidea
Infraordo: Lacertibaenia
Cladus: Amphisbaenia

Familia: Amphisbaenidae
Genus: Leposternon
Species (11): L. bagual – L. cerradensis – L. infraorbitale – L. kisteumacheri – L. maximus – L. microcephalum – L. mineiro – L. octostegum – L. polystegum – L. scutigerum – L. wuchereri
Name

Leposternon Wagler, 1824: 70

Type species: Leposternon microcephalus Wagler, 1824, by monotypy.

Synonyms

Cephalopeltis Müller, 1832: 257
Type species: Cephalopeltis cuvieri Müller, 1832, by monotypy.
Sphenocephalus Gray, 1865: 452 [as subgenus of Lepidosternon [sic]; preoccupied by †Sphenocephalus Agassiz, 1838, Sphenocephalus Wiegmann in Fitzinger, 1843, and Sphenocephalus Blyth, 1853]
Type species: Lepidosternon grayii Gray, 1865, by monotypy.

References
Primary references

Wagler, J. 1824. Serpentum brasiliensium species novae ou Histoire naturelle des espèces nouvelles de serpens, recueillies et observées pendant le voyage dans l’intérieur du Brésil dans les années 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820, exécuté par ordre de Sa Majesté le Roi de Bavière, publiée par Jean de Spix,...décrite d’après les notes du voyageur par Jean Wagler. Typis Franc. Seraph. Hübschmanni: Munich. vii + 75 pp. BHL Reference page.
Müller, J. 1832. Beitrage zur Anatomie und Naturgeschichte der Amphibien. Zeitschrift fur Physiologie 14(2): 190–275. BHL
Gray, J.E. 1865. A revision of the genera and species of amphisbaenians with the descriptions of some new species now in the collection of the British Museum. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1865: 442–455. BHL

Additional references

Gans, C. 1971. Studies on Amphisbaenians. (4). A review of the amphisbaenid genus Leposternon. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 144: 379–464. hdl: 2246/1087
Porto, M., Soares, M.A. & Caramaschi, U. 2000. A new species of Leposternon Wagler, 1824 from Minas Gerais, Brazil, with a key to the species of the genus (Amphisbaenia, Amphisbaenidae). Boletim do Museu Nacional. Nova Série, Zoologia 412: 1–10. Reference page.
Ribeiro, S., Vaz-Silva, W. & Santos Jr., A.P. 2008. New pored Leposternon (Squamata, Amphisbaenia) from Brazilian Cerrado. Zootaxa 1930: 18–38. Abstract & excerpt. Reference page.
Mott, T. & Vieites, D.R. 2009. Molecular phylogenetics reveals extreme morphological homoplasy in Brazilian worm lizards challenging current taxonomy. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 51(2): 190–200. DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2009.01.014 Paywall Reference page.
Ribeiro, S., Nogueira, C., Cintra, C.E.D., Silva Jr., N.J. & Zaher, H. 2011. Description of a new pored Leposternon (Squamata, Amphisbaenidae) from the Brazilian Cerrado. South American Journal of Herpetology 6(3): 177–188. DOI: 10.2994/057.006.0303 Reference page.
Ribeiro, S., Santos, A.P. Jr. & Zaher, H. 2015. A new species of Leposternon Wagler, 1824 (Squamata, Amphisbaenia) from northeastern Argentina. Zootaxa 4034(2): 309–324. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4034.2.4. Preview (PDF) Reference page.
Ribeiro, S., Silveira, A.L. & Santos Jr., A.P. 2018. A New Species of Leposternon (Squamata: Amphisbaenidae) from Brazilian Cerrado with a Key to Pored Species. Journal of Herpetology 52(1): 50–58. DOI: 10.1670/16-125 Reference page.

Links

Uetz, P. & Hallermann, J. 2022. Leposternon . The Reptile Database. Accessed on 4 March 2021.

Leposternon is a genus of amphisbaenians in the family Amphisbaenidae. Species in the genus are commonly known as worm lizards, even though they are not lizards. 11 species are placed in this genus.
Species

The following species are recognized as being valid.[1]

Leposternon bagual Ribeiro, Santos & Zaher, 2015
Leposternon cerradensis Ribeiro, Vazsilva & Santos, 2008
Leposternon infraorbitale (Berthold, 1859) – Berthold's worm lizard
Leposternon kisteumacheri Porto, Soares & Caramaschi, 2000
Leposternon maximus Ribeiro, Nogueira, Cintra, da Silva & Zaher, 2011
Leposternon microcephalum Wagler, 1824 – smallhead worm lizard
Leposternon mineiro Ribeiro, Lima-Silveira & Santos, 2018
Leposternon octostegum (A.H.A. Duméril, 1851) – Duméril's worm lizard
Leposternon polystegum (A.H.A. Duméril, 1851) – Bahia worm lizard
Leposternon scutigerum (Hemprich), 1820 – shielded worm lizard
Leposternon wuchereri (W. Peters, 1879) – Wucherer's worm lizard

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Leposternon.
References

Genus Leposternon at The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading
Wikispecies has information related to Leposternon.

Gans C (2005). "Checklist and Bibliography of the Amphisbaenia of the World". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History (289): 1-130.
Wagler J (1824). In: Spix J (1824). Serpentum Brasiliensum species novae ou histoire naturelle des espèces nouvelles de serpens, recueillies et observées pendant le voyage dans l'intérieur du Brésil dans les années 1817, 1818, 1819, 1820, exécuté par ordre de sa Majesté le Roi de Baviére. Munich: F.S. Hübschmann. viii + 75 pp. + Plates I-XXVI. (Leposternon, new genus, p. 70). (in Latin and French).