https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Indotyphlops_meszoelyiIndotyphlops meszoelyi - Revision history2026-08-03T00:29:45ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Indotyphlops_meszoelyi&diff=504406&oldid=prevNilesh Kumar 123 at 04:01, 16 December 20252025-12-16T04:01:02Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Species of snake}}<br />
{{Speciesbox<br />
| image =<br />
| status = DD <br />
| status_system = IUCN3.1<br />
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Wallach, V. |author-link=Van Wallach |date=2010 |title=''Indotyphlops meszoelyi '' |volume=2010 |article-number=e.T178191A7494240 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T178191A7494240.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref><br />
| genus = Indotyphlops<br />
| species = meszoelyi<br />
| authority = ([[Van Wallach|Wallach]], 1999)<br />
| synonyms = *''Typhlops meszoelyi'' <br />{{small|Wallach, 1999}}<br />
*''Indotyphlops meszoelyi'' <br />{{small|— [[Stephen Blair Hedges|Hedges]] et al., 2014}}<br />
| synonyms_ref =<ref name=RDB>{{cite web|title=''Indotyphlops meszoelyi'' (WALLACH, 1999)|url=http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Indotyphlops&species=meszoelyi|website=The Reptile database|access-date=25 July 2017}}</ref><br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''''Indotyphlops meszoelyi''''', the '''Darjeeling worm snake''' or '''Meszoely's blind snake''', is a [[species]] of [[snake]] in the [[Family (biology)|family]] [[Typhlopidae]]. The species is [[Endemism|endemic]] to [[Darjeeling]], [[West Bengal]] Province, [[India]].<br />
<br />
==Etymology==<br />
''Indotyphlops meszoelyi'' was named after American paleontologist [[species:Charles Aladar Maria Meszoely|Charles A.M. Meszoely]] (1933–2020) of the Center for Vertebrate Studies at [[Northeastern University, Boston|Northeastern University]] in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]].<ref name=Wallach>{{cite journal|last=Wallach|first=Van|year=1999|title=''Typhlops meszoelyi'', A New Species of Blind Snake from Northeastern India (Serpentes: Typhlopidae)|journal=Herpetologica|volume=55|issue=2|pages=185–191|jstor=3893078}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Beolens|first1=Bo|author1-link=Bo Beolens|last2=Watkins|first2=Michael|author2-link=Michael Watkins (zoologist)|last3=Grayson|first3=Michael|author3-link=Michael Grayson|year=2011|title=The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles|location=Baltimore, Maryland, USA|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=978-1-4214-0135-5}} xiii + 296 pp. (''Typhlops meszoelyi'', p. 177).</ref><br />
<br />
==Description==<br />
The [[holotype]] specimen of ''Indotyphlops meszoelyi'' measures {{convert|17.9|cm}} in total length (including tail), and has a diameter of {{convert|3|mm}} in the middle of its body.<ref name="Wallach"/> It can be distinguished from other species in the same genus found in that region by the presence of a "deep concavity along the posterior border of the nasal shield".<ref name="Wallach"/> The snake is brown on its back and lighter brown on its belly, with the two colors merging into each other.<ref name="Wallach"/><br />
<br />
==Habitat and ecology==<br />
The holotype specimen of ''Indotyphlops meszoelyi'' was collected in a region of rugged hills, in the foothills of the [[Himalayas]]. It is thought to inhabit temperate broadleaf forests. The area in which the specimen was collected was historically montane forest, but today has been mostly turned into fruit orchards and paddy fields.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" /> ''Indotyphlops meszoelyi'' is [[Oviparity|oviparous]], or egg-laying.<ref name=RDB/> <br />
<br />
==Geographic range and conservation status==<br />
The holotype specimen of ''Indotyphlops meszoelyi'' was collected in [[Darjeeling]] district of the Indian state of [[West Bengal]], at an altitude of {{convert|2285|m}} above sea level. No other information about its distribution is currently available.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" /> The [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN) classified ''Typhlops meszoelyi'' as Data Deficient in 2010, based on the fact that the species was only known from the location in which the holotype specimen was collected.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" /> However, it stated that [[habitat loss]] and degradation were known to occur within the range of the species, although the impact of these on the snake was unknown. The area in which the specimen was found is used to graze livestock, which may constitute a threat to the species.<ref name="iucn status 11 November 2021" /><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
==Further reading==<br />
*{{cite journal|first1=Stephen Blair|last1=Hedges|author-link1=Stephen Blair Hedges|first2=Angela B.|last2=Marion|author2-link=Angela B. Marion|first3=Kelly M.|last3=Lipp|author3-link=Kelly M. Lipp|first4=Julie|last4=Marin|author4-link=Julie Marin|first5=Nicolas|last5=Vidal|author5-link=Nicolas Vidal|year=2014|title=A taxonomic framework for typhlopid snakes from the Caribbean and other regions (Reptilia, Squamata)|journal=Caribbean Herpetology|volume=49|pages=1–61}} (''Indotyphlops meszoelyi'', new combination).<br />
<br />
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3022885}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Indotyphlops]]<br />
[[Category:Endemic reptiles of India]]<br />
[[Category:Reptiles described in 1999]]<br />
[[Category:Taxa named by Van Wallach]]</div>Nilesh Kumar 123