A New Amphisbaena Species from a Restinga Habitat of Southeastern Brazil (reptilia, Squamata, Amphisbaenidae)

A new species of Amphisbaena is described from the restinga environment of Grumari in Rio de Janeiro municipality, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. This small form has a total length of 115.0 mm, a maximum 3.7 mm diameter at midbody, 186 left ventral annuli, 21 caudal annuli, 26 – 28 annuli scales at midbody and four precloacal pores. Autotomic tail annulus is absent. Characteristically, it has an enlarged pair of temporal shields coupled with a distinctive lateral tail compression. The new species is easily recognizable and distinguishable from any of the other Amphisbaena forms. There are only two Amphisbaena species effectively registered for Rio de Janeiro State (A. alba and A. hogei), and the species here described would add the third known Amphisbaena species for Rio de Janeiro state and raise the number of Amphisbaena species registered for Brazil to 71.