Notes on the prevalence of Amphisbaena bassleri L. 1758 (Squamata, Amphisbaenidae) in a study of road ecology in the western Amazon, near Tena (Ecuador)

Abstract

The family Amphisbaenidae includes some of the least studied and understood species of Squamata, mainly due to their fossorial behaviour. In turn, this implies that we have limited knowledge of the conservation status of these species, and we cannot predict the responses of these elusive animals to increasingly more common and severe human-induced disturbances and habitat changes (Vitt et al. 1998; Díaz et al. 2000, Kuhnz et al