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Moroccan worm lizard

{{Short description|Species of amphisbaenian}}

{{Speciesbox

| name = Moroccan Worm Lizard

| image =

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| genus = Blanus

| species = mettetali

| authority = Bons, 1963

| synonyms = *Blanus cinereus mettetali
{{small|Bons, 1963}}

  • Blanus mettetali
    {{small|— Busack, 1988}}"Blanus mettetali ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

| range_map = Blanus mettetali distribution.png

|status_ref={{cite iucn |author=Miras, J.A.M. |author2=Joger, U. |author3=Pleguezuelos, J. |author4=Slimani, T. |date=2006 |title=Blanus mettetali |volume=2006 |page=e.T61470A12472055 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T61470A12472055.en |access-date=14 November 2021}}

}}

The Moroccan worm lizard (Blanus mettetali) is a species of amphisbaenian in the family Blanidae. The species is endemic to Morocco.{{cite journal|last=Busack|first=Stephen D.|title=Biochemical and Morphological Differentiation in Spanish and Moroccan Populations of Blanus and the Description of a New Species from Northern Morocco (Reptilia, Amphisbaenia, Amphisbaenidae)|journal=Copeia|date=1988|volume=1988|number=1|pages=101–109|doi=10.2307/1445928|jstor=1445928}}

Etymology

The specific name, mettetali, is in honor of a Mr. Mettetal who was head of the Laboratory of Animal Biology, Faculty of Sciences of Morocco.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. (Blanus mettetali, p. 177).

Habitat

The natural habitats of B. mettetali are temperate forests, temperate shrubland, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, arable land, and pastureland.

Conservation status

B. mettetali is threatened by habitat loss.

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • Bons, Jacques (1963). "Notes sur Blanus cinereus (Vandelli), description d'une sous-espèce Marocaine: Blanus cinereus mettetali ssp. nov." Bulletin de la Société des Sciences naturelles et physiques du Maroc (1-2): 95–107. (in French).

=Phylogeographical patterns=

  • {{cite journal|vauthors=Albert EM, Zardoya R, García-París M |title=Phylogeographical and speciation patterns in subterranean worm lizards of the genus Blanus (Amphisbaenia: Blanidae)|journal=Molecular Ecology|volume=16|issue=7|year=2007|pages=1519–1531|issn=0962-1083|doi=10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03248.x|pmid=17391273|s2cid=26071914}}
  • {{cite journal|last1=Vaconcelos|first1=Raquel|last2=Harris|first2=D. James|last3=Carretero|first3=Miguel|title=Phylogeography of the genus Blanus (worm lizards) in Iberia and Morocco based on mitochondrial and nuclear markers — preliminary analysis|journal=Amphibia-Reptilia|volume=27|issue=3|year=2006|pages=339–346|issn=0173-5373|doi=10.1163/156853806778190033|doi-access=free}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1766811}}

mettetali

Category:Endemic fauna of Morocco

Category:Reptiles described in 1963

Category:Taxa named by Jacques Bons

Category:Reptiles of North Africa

Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot

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