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We describe a new species of Amphisbaena from the Caatinga in the northern region of Bahia, northeastern Brazil. The new taxon is identified mainly by having two precloacal pores, 158–165 body annuli, 12–14 caudal annuli with autotomy on the third and fourth annuli, 14–16 dorsal and 15–16 ventral segments on a midbody annulus, four supralabials, three infralabials, and a postmalar row. Its description increases to 23 the number of species of Amphisbaenia for the Caatinga. Knowledge of worm lizard richness has largely increased in Brazil since the 1990s, especially in the Caatinga and the Cerrado, due mainly to collections in previously unsurveyed areas for environmental impact assessments.

I address some taxonomic issues created by previous perceptions of species' boundaries in Amphisbaena from southern South America, including specimens with intermediate characteristics. In this note I propose the synonymization of Amphisbaena trachura and Amphisbaena heterozonata into Amphisbaena darwini, and the maintenance of the current species Amphisbaena angustifrons and Amphisbaena plumbea.

We describe a new species of Amphisbaena from the Caatinga of northeastern Brazil. The new taxon is identified mainly by having 216–239 body annuli, 13–17 caudal annuli without autotomic site, 4–8 (usually six) precloacal pores without a median hiatus, 18–24 dorsal and 18–24 ventral segments at a midbody annulus, 4 supralabials, 3 infralabials, and postmalar row present. The continued discovery of new amphisbaenians from Caatinga highlights the insufficient current knowledge regarding the diversity of this group in this semiarid region.

Amphisbaenians are important predators of tropical ecosystems, yet the ecology of most species is poorly known. We studied the reproduction and diet of two species of amphisbaenian from the Brazilian Cerrado. Also, we investigated whether snout–vent length is sexually dimorphic and whether differences existed in the soil depth at which the two species were found. Adults of Leposternon polystegum were larger than adults of Amphisbaena ibijara. Male L. polystegum were larger than females, but A. ibijara did not show sexual dimorphism. Amphsibaena ibijara individuals were encountered significantly closer to the surface than individuals of L. polystegum, although there was some overlap in the soil depth used between species. Termites and larvae Coleoptera predominated in frequency of occurrence and termites in number of prey in juveniles and adults of both sexes in A. ibijara. In the diet of juvenile L. polystegum individuals, there was no dominant prey group. In male L. polystegum, ants and earthwor...

A new species of Amphisbaena is described from Fazenda Caraibas, municipality of Mucuge ˆ, state of Bahia, Brazil, in the northern portion of the Serra do Espinhaco. The new species is a small amphisbaenian without precloacal pores, 210-213 body annuli, 12-13 tail annuli without evident autotomic site, and 14 dorsal and 14-15 ventral segments per annuli at midbody. The striking difference of this form is the presence of small tubercles on the dorsal region of its tail. This feature is unique among its congeners, although Rhineura floridana, a North American amphisbaenian, has tubercles on its tail. We suggest that the presence of tubercles on the tail of Amphisbaena sp. nov. and Rhineura floridana has arisen independently. Several new species of amphisbaenians have been described from South America in the last decade (Vanzolini, 1997; Porto et al., 2000; Strussmann and Carvalho, 2001; Rodrigues et al., 2003), several of them from previously unexplored regions. In a survey conducted in the highlands of Serra do Espinhaco, state of Bahia, Brazil, we obtained three small specimens of amphisbaenians, which at first sight seem to have had the tail autotomized. At closer exam- ination, it became evident that their tail, short, blunt, nonautotomic, and covered with conic tubercules at their diagonal and dorsally orient- ed tip, was strikingly different from that of all other South American amphisbaenians. Despite its unique tail morphology, we describe the new taxon in Amphisbaena based on an overall similarity in head and body shape and scalation.

A new species of Amphisbaena is described from the Cabo Cruz region of eastern Cuba. It shares with two other Cuban species, Amphisbaena barbouri (new rank) and A. cubana, fusion of the second supralabial and ocular scales. It is a pallid, long-tailed, xerophilic species associated with dry, coastal limestone habitats. In the West Indies, amphisbaenians occur only on the island banks of Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico (Schwartz and Henderson, 1991). Three species are currently recognized from Cuba: Amphisbaena blanoides, A. palirostrata, and A. cubana. The first two occur in western Cuba and were placed in the genus Cadea until recently (Hedges, 1996; Powell et al., 1996). A fourth taxon, barbouri, was described as a subspecies of A. cubana (Gans and Alexander, 1962). It has a peculiar distribution in west-central Cuba in that it is known only from coastal or near-coastal localities in the north (Havana-Matanzas) and south (Bay of Pigs-Cienfuegos). Specimens from east and west (including Isla de Juventud) of these areas are assigned to the nominate subspecies (Schwartz and Henderson, 1991) and no morphologically intermediate specimens are known despite the close proximity of some localities and apparent sympatry at Soledad, Cienfuegos Province (Gans and Alexander, 1962). For these reasons (and, see below), we choose to recognize A. barbouri at the species level. During July, 1994, we collected along the south coast of eastern Cuba ("Oriente") in the provinces of Granma and Santiago de Cuba. Although the entire coast between Cabo Cruz in the west and Cabo Maisi in the east is generally dry, the areas near the two capes are more xeric 3Author for correspondence and reprints. E-mail: sbhl@psu.edu than the intermediate coast. In the western xeric area (Meseta de Cabo Cruz), between Cabo Cruz and Boca del Toro, a series of limestone terraces descends stepwise to the coast, and the xeric scrub vegetation grows within solution holes in the limestone. The conditions are very reminiscent of the xeric, scrub-covered, terraced limestone on the southern part of the Barahona Peninsula in Hispaniola. Within a kilometer to the west of Boca del Toro we collected four specimens of a distinctive, slender, pale species of Amphisbaena. A fifth specimen of this new species, also from the Cabo Cruz region, was found among specimens of A. cubana in the collection of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. MATERIALS AND METHODS Scale counts were taken according to the criteria of Gans and Alexander (1962); measurements of head scales were taken with a dissecting microscope and digital readout micrometer caliper. The count of total half-annular segments of the head is a count of the segments dorsal to the splitting of the second body annulus into two half-annuli, which may be given as a total count (the number of segments in anterior halfannulus + number of segments in posterior half-annulus). Snout-vent length (SVL) and tail measurements were taken to the nearest mm by laying the specimen along a ruler. Other length measurements were made with a digital readout micrometer caliper and recorded to the nearest 0.1 mm. Drawings of head scalation 92 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.180 on Mon, 25 Apr 2016 06:02:31 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms NEW CUBAN AMPHISBAENIAN FIG. 1. Amphisbaena carlgansi, from the type-locality in Granma Province, Cuba. were made with a camera lucida attachment to a Wild dissecting microscope. Museum abbreviations follow standardized usage (Leviton et al., 1985), except for MNHNCU, which refers to the collection of the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural (Havana, Cuba). Amphisbaena carlgansi, sp. nov. Figs. 1-2 Holotype.-MNHNCU 4421, a female, taken on the second limestone terrace above the sea, within 1 km west of Boca del Toro, Granma Province, Cuba, ca. 50 m. Collected on 8 July 1994 by Richard Thomas; fixed in 80-90% ethanol. Original field tag number 193876.

A new species of the genus Amphisbaena is described from Pampa Grande, Santa Cruz De- partment, Bolivia. The species is externally similar to A. darwini. It differs from other species of the genus by a unique combination of characters including the lack of postmalar row and a relatively high number of segments to a midbody annulus.

Locomotor activity of Amphisbaena manni, A. gonavensis, Typhlops biminiensis, and T. pusila was recorded by aktographs. All species were predominantly nocturnal, Typhlops more so than Amphisbaena. All species, with the exception of A. manni, showed evidence of strong endogenous circadian rhythms of activity when kept in continuous light.