Rhinotyphlops boylei

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Subordo: Serpentes
Superfamilia: Typhlopoidea

Familia: Typhlopidae
Subfamilia: Afrotyphlopinae
Genus: Rhinotyphlops
Species: Rhinotyphlops boylei
Name

Rhinotyphlops boylei (FitzSimons, 1932)

Holotype: TMP 14695 (formerly VLKE 805), ♂, collected by A.M. Boyle on 28 May 1930.

Type locality: “Gemsbok Pan, Ghanzi District”.
Combinations

Typhlops boylei FitzSimons, 1932: 38 [original combination]
Rhinotyphlops boylei — Marais, 2004: 280 [subsequent combination]

References
Primary references

FitzSimons, V. 1932. Preliminary descriptions of new forms of South African Reptilia and Amphibia, from the Vernay-Lang Kalahari Expedition, 1930. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 15(1): 35–40.

Links

Uetz, P. & Hallermann, J. 2022. Rhinotyphlops boylei. The Reptile Database. Accessed on 3 January 2019.

Vernacular names
English: Boyle's Beaked Blind Snake

Rhinotyphlops boylei, commonly known as Boyle's beaked blind snake,[3] is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae.[4][5] The species is native to southern Africa.[3]

Etymology

The specific name, boylei, is in honor of "A. M. Boyle, Esq.", who collected the holotype.[2]
Geographic range

Indigenous to southern Africa, R. boylei is found from Damaraland in Namibia to western Botswana.[3]
Description

Dorsally, R. boylei is olive-brown, the scales light-edged. Ventrally, it is pale yellow.

Adults may attain a snout-vent length (SVL) of 22 cm (8+1⁄2 in).

The scales are arranged in 26-28 rows around the body. There are more than 300 dorsal scales in the vertebral row.[3]
Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of R. boylei is sandveld,[3] at altitudes of 1,000–1,400 m (3,300–4,600 ft).[1]
Reproduction

R. boylei is oviparous.[2]
References

Pietersen, D.; Verburgt, L.; Farooq, H. (2021). "Rhinotyphlops boylei". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2021: e.T22473415A22473422. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-2.RLTS.T22473415A22473422.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
Species Rhinotyphlops boylei at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. ISBN 0-88359-042-5. p. 53.
McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré T (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).

"Rhinotyphlops ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 29 August 2007.

Further reading

Broadley DG, Wallach V (2009). "A review of the eastern and southern African blind-snakes (Serpentes: Typhlopidae), excluding Letheobia Cope, with the description of two new genera and a new species". Zootaxa 2255: 1–100. (Rhinotyphlops boylei, p. 59).
FitzSimons V (1932). "Preliminary descriptions of new forms of South African Reptilia and Amphibia, from the Vernay-Lang Kalahari Expedition, 1930". Annals of the Transvaal Museum 15 (1): 35–40. (Typhlops boylei, new species).
FitzSimons V (1966). "A check-list, with syntopic keys, to the snakes of southern Africa". Ann. Transvaal Mus. 25 (3): 35–79.