Moroccan worm lizard

The Moroccan worm lizard (Blanus mettetali) is a species of amphisbaenian in the family Blanidae. The species is endemic to Morocco.^[3]

Moroccan Worm Lizard
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Blanidae
Genus:	Blanus
Species:	B. mettetali
Binomial name
Blanus mettetali Bons, 1963
Synonyms
Blanus cinereus mettetali Bons, 1963 Blanus mettetali — Busack, 1988[2]

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.^[4]

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

1. Miras, J.A.M.; Joger, U.; Pleguezuelos, J.; Slimani, T. (2006). "Blanus mettetali". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2006: e.T61470A12472055. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2006.RLTS.T61470A12472055.en. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
2. "Blanus mettetali ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
3. Busack, Stephen D. (1988). "Biochemical and Morphological Differentiation in Spanish and Moroccan Populations of Blanus and the Description of a New Species from Northern Morocco (Reptilia, Amphisbaenia, Amphisbaenidae)". Copeia. 1988 (1): 101–109. doi:10.2307/1445928. JSTOR 1445928.
4. 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).

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

• Albert EM, Zardoya R, García-París M (2007). "Phylogeographical and speciation patterns in subterranean worm lizards of the genus Blanus (Amphisbaenia: Blanidae)". Molecular Ecology. 16 (7): 1519–1531. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294X.2007.03248.x. ISSN 0962-1083. PMID 17391273. S2CID 26071914.
• Vaconcelos, Raquel; Harris, D. James; Carretero, Miguel (2006). "Phylogeography of the genus Blanus (worm lizards) in Iberia and Morocco based on mitochondrial and nuclear markers — preliminary analysis". Amphibia-Reptilia. 27 (3): 339–346. doi:10.1163/156853806778190033. ISSN 0173-5373.