NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Mottled Amphisbaena [bassleri]
Amphisbaena fuliginosa Linnaeus, 1758
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Saül, Guyane, FRANCE Scanned Slide from 2000
Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Amphisbaena fuliginosa, also known as the black-and-white worm lizard, speckled worm lizard or spotted worm lizard, is a species of amphisbaenian in the genus Amphisbaena. The ecology of A. fuliginosa is poorly known due to its fossorial habits. However, this species can be easily distinguished from others because of its characteristic white and black mosaic pattern that covers both the dorsal and ventral side.
Wikipedia contributors, Amphisbaena fuliginosa; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:14:49.048938+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Amphisbaena fuliginosa Linnaeus, 1758
- Name authority
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Common name
- Mottled Amphisbaena [bassleri]
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Amphisbaenidae
- Genus
- Amphisbaena
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderAmphisbaenia
- familyAmphisbaenidae
- genusAmphisbaena
- speciesAmphisbaena fuliginosa Linnaeus, 1758
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Amphisbaena. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Cayemite Short-tailed AmphisbaenaAmphisbaena cayemite Thomas & Hedges, 2006 | AmphisbaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphisbaena crisae Vanzolini, 1997 | AmphisbaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Black-headed Worm LizardAmphisbaena nigricauda Gans, 1966 | AmphisbaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Munoa Worm LizardAmphisbaena munoai Klappenbach, 1960 | AmphisbaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphisbaena arenicola Perez & Borges-Martins, 2019 | AmphisbaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphisbaena bilabialata (Stimson, 1972) | AmphisbaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphisbaena hoogmoedi Oliveira, Vaz-Silva, Santos-Jr, Graboski, Teixeira Jr, Dal Vechio & Ribeiro, 2018 | AmphisbaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphisbaena longinqua Texeira Junior, Dal Vechio, Recoder, Cassimiro, Sena & Rodrigues, 2019 | AmphisbaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphisbaena metallurga Costa, Resende, Teixeira, Vechio & Clemente, 2015 | AmphisbaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphisbaena nana Perez & Borges-Martins, 2019 | AmphisbaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphisbaena elbakyanae Torres-Ramírez, Angarita-Sierra & Vargas-Ramírez, 2021 | AmphisbaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amphisbaena carli Pinna, Mendonça, Bocchiglieri & Fernandes, 2010 | AmphisbaenidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Amphisbaena varia Laurenti, 1768 Laurenti, 1768 | synonym |
| Amphisbaena vulgaris Laurenti, 1768 Laurenti, 1768 | synonym |
| Amphisbaena americana Gray, 1844 Gray, 1844 | synonym |
| Amphisbaena flava Laurenti, 1768 Laurenti, 1768 | synonym |
| Amphisbaena magnifica Laurenti, 1768 Laurenti, 1768 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Amphisbaena&species=fuliginosa Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:D5HR. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.