Megatyphlops Broadley & Wallach 2009, gen. nov

Megatyphlops gen. nov. Giant blind-snakes Type species. — Onychocephalus mucruso Peters, 1854, Ber. Bekanntmach. Geeignet. Verhandl. Königl.- Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1854(11): 621. Diagnosis. —An endemic African genus characterized by the following combination of characters: snout sharply angular in profile, with a keratinized horizontal edge in adults, supralabial imbrication pattern T-II or T-X, nasal shield incompletely divided and lacking posterior concavity, nostrils directed ventrally, inferior nasal suture contacting first or second supralabial or rostral (Megatyphlops anomalus), 3–7 postoculars, dorsal rostral broad (greater than 1/2 interocular head width), ventral rostral broad (greater than 1/2 internarial snout width), well-developed eye with discernible pupil, dorsum pigmented (often with lineate, mottled or blotched pattern), and vestigial left lung present. Other typical characters include 30–44 midbody scale rows, robust body (length/width 17–58), and large size (maximum length 350–950 mm). Distribution. —Endemic to eastern and southern Africa. Content. —Four species.
Published as part of Broadley, Donald G. & Wallach, Van, 2009, 2255, pp. 1-100 in Zootaxa 2255 on page 47
{"references":["Peters, W. C. H. (1854) Diagnosen neuer Batrachier, welche zusammen mit der fruher (24. Juli und 17. August) gegebenen Ubersicht der Schlangen und Eidechsen mitgetheilt werden. Bericht uber zur Bekanntmachunggeeigneten Verhandlungen der Koniglich-Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1854 (11), 614 - 628."]}