Morphological variation in Monopeltis guentheri from forest habitat in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo (Squamata: Amphisbaenidae)

Abstract

Sixty-four Monopeltis guentheri were collected in a small patch of remnant forest within the city of Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, and were measured for morphological characters traditionally used to classify five species of Central and West African Monopeltis amphisbaenians. Based on the intraspecific variation found in our specimens, we concluded that the characters considered are of limited usefulness for identification of this species. We found total annuli number to have potential for use as a taxonomic character while there is little diagnostic value in body and tail length, number of anal plates, number of pre-anal pores, and number of dorsal and ventral segments. We conclude that currently utilised morphological characters are insufficient to identify Monopeltis guentheri.