Lomi's blind legless skink

{{speciesbox

| name = Lomi's blind legless skink

| status = NT

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author1=Conradie, W. |author1-link=Werner Conradie |author2=Bauer, A.M. |author2-link=species:Aaron Matthew Bauer |author3=Weeber, J. |author3-link=Josh Weeber |author4=Pietersen, D. |author4-link=species:Darren W. Pietersen |author5=Tolley, K.A. |author5-link=Krystal A. Tolley |author6=Alexander, G.J. |author6-link=Graham J. Alexander |date=2022 |title=Typhlosaurus lomiae |volume=2022 |page=e.T22701A197402216 |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22701/197402216 |access-date=30 July 2022}}

| genus = Typhlosaurus

| species = lomiae

| authority = Haacke, 1986

| synonyms = *Typhlosaurus lomii
{{small|Haacke, 1986}}

Typhlosaurus lomiae
{{small|— Michels & Bauer, 2004}}

| synonyms_ref =

}}

Lomi's blind legless skink (Typhlosaurus lomiae) is a species of lizard in the subfamily Acontinae of the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Little Namaqualand in South Africa.

Etymology

The specific name lomiae honours Miss Lomi Wessels Brown, Collection Manager of lower vertebrates and invertebrates at the Transvaal Museum since 1976.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. (Typhlosaurus lomiae, p. 160).

Taxonomy

In 1986 South African herpetologist Wulf Dietrich Haacke originally named this species Typhlosaurus lomii, which is masculine (genitive singular). In 2004 J. Pieter Michels and Aaron Matthew Bauer corrected the specific name to lomiae, which is feminine (genitive singular) because it honors a woman.Michels JP, Bauer AM (2004). "Some corrections to the scientific names of amphibians and reptiles". Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 52: 83–94.

Description

T. lomiae is limbless, blind, slender, and small. The usual snout-to-vent length (SVL) of adults is {{convert|10|-|11|cm|in|abbr=on}}. Dorsally, it is bright goldish pink, while ventrally, it is whitish and almost translucent.Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp., 112 plates. (Typhlosaurus lomii, p. 138 + Plate 43).

Habitat

The preferred habitat of T. lomiae is succulent veld with sandy soil, such as vegetated sand dunes with termite nests, at altidudes from near sea level to {{cvt|100|m|ft}}.

Reproduction

T. lomiae is viviparous.

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{NRDB species|genus=Typhlosaurus|species=lomiae|accessdate=7 January 2017}}

}}