Comparison of geographic variations in Typhlops vermicularis (Merrem, 1820) (Ophidia: Typhlopidae) from the Iranian plateau with Turkey and Turkmenistan

Comparison of the Blind Snake Populations, Xerotyphlops vermicularis (Merrem, 1820) (Squamata: Typhlopidae) in Turkey and Cyprus: Morphology, Serology, Ecology, and Geometric Morphometrics

“…The number of supralabials is 4 in the Anatolian and Cyprian specimens as mentioned above. This value shows similarity to the previous results Boulenger (1893); Başoğlu and Baran (1980); Baran and Atatür (1998); Atatür and Göçmen (2001); Franzen et al (2008); Afroosheh et al (2013); Afsar et al (2016). This character is given as 2 (Arıkan et al 2000;Kumlutaş et al 2004) or 3 (Afşar and Tok, 2011).…”

“…Metric and meristic characters follow previously published methods on Typhlopidae (Niyomwan et al, 2001;Broadley & Wallach, 2007;Thomas & Hedges, 2007;Wallach, Brown, Diesmos, & Gee, 2007;Afroosheh et al, 2013). They are as follows: rostrum-anus length (RA): distance from tip of snout to cloaca, tail length (TL): from cloaca to tip of tail (if complete), midbody diameter (MBD), midtail diameter (MTD), total body length (TBL): RA+TL, head length (HL): from snout tip to the posterior edge of the lower jaw, head radius (HR): the distance from the tip of the snout to a transverse line through the middle of both eyes, head width (…”

“…Metric and meristic characters follow previously published methods on Typhlopidae (Niyomwan et al, 2001;Broadley & Wallach, 2007;Thomas & Hedges, 2007;Wallach, Brown, Diesmos, & Gee, 2007;Afroosheh et al, 2013). They are as follows: rostrum-anus length (RA): distance from tip of snout to cloaca, tail length (TL): from cloaca to tip of tail (if complete), midbody diameter (MBD), midtail diameter (MTD), total body length (TBL): RA+TL, head length (HL): from snout tip to the posterior edge of the lower jaw, head radius (HR): the distance from the tip of the snout to a transverse line through the middle of both eyes, head width (HW): width of head at the level of the eyes, maximum head width (MHW): greatest width of head, maximum head depth (HD): greatest depth of head, rostral width (RW), rostral length (RL), distance from anterior of rostrale to eye level (DRE), internarial length (IL): distance between inner sides of nostrils, distance between the eyes (DBE), distance from anterior of nostril to posterior of eye (DNE), preocular width (PW): greatest width of preocular, preocular depth (PD): greatest depth of preocular, ocular width (OW): greatest width of oculare, ocular depth (OD): greatest depth of ocular, horizontal diameter of eye (ED), minimum distance from snout to posterior of eye (DSE), supralabials (S), infralabials (I), mid-body scales (MBS): longitudinal rows around mid-body; mid-tail scales (MTS): longitudinal rows around mid-tail, dorsocaudals (DC): the number of vertebral scales along the tail, subcaudals (SC): the number of midventral scales along the tail, middorsal scales (MDS): scales between the rostral and terminal spine.…”

“…Scolecophidians, Typhlopidae (approximately 260 species) occur in Africa, Madagascar, southern Asia, South and Central America, and Australia, while only one representative, Xerotyphlops vermicularis, is found in southeastern Europe (Başoğlu & Baran, 1980;Baran & Atatür, 1998;Cox, Chanson, & Stuart, 2006;Adalsteinsson, Branch, Trape, Vitt, & Hedges, 2009;Vidal et al, 2010;Kornilios et al, 2012;Afroosheh et al, 2013;Jablonski & Balej, 2015). Many different climatic regions and vegetation types are seen in Anatolia that has an important role for X. vermicularis' dispersal behaviour.…”

“…There are about 2700 snake species within the suborder Serpentes that is divided into two infraorders as Alethinophidia and Scolecophidia (Rage, 1987;Greene, 1997;Pough, Janis, & Heiser, 1999;Afroosheh, Rastegar-Pouyani, Ghoreishi, & Kami, 2013). Of these two major divisions of snakes, Scolecophidia is the most poorly known group in terms of the species' diversity, phylogeny, biogeography, and ecology (Greene, 1997;Kornilios et al, 2012).…”