Van Stanley Bartholomew Wallach (born 1947) is an American herpetologist and an expert on blindsnakes and on the systematics, internal anatomy, and taxonomy of snakes. He has contributed to the descriptions of at least 46 species of snakes[1] and has conducted fieldwork on tropical snakes in the Philippines, Nicaragua, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
For many years Wallach worked as a Curatorial Assistant at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He retired from the museum in 2012, but he continues to work on snake taxonomy.[2] Wallach was the lead editor of the 1,227 page authoritative reference book Snakes of the World.[3]
In the 2000s Wallach was one of several herpetologists who became embroiled in a dispute with Raymond Hoser, an Australian herpetologist, over proper nomenclatural acts. Hoser charged Wallach with creating a destabilising dual nomenclature by attempting to rename species that Hoser had already described in his journal. Wallach's coauthors suggested incorrectly that Hoser had not complied with the provisions of the ICZN Code. The debate became quite heated, with Hoser charging Wallach with "scientific fraud",[4] whereas nine prominent biologists published a paper in which they, not so indirectly, called Hoser a "taxonomic vandal".[5] These biologists suggested that the herpetofaunal taxa published on or after 1 January 2000 that can be objectively classed as unscientific, non-peer reviewed, misguided in intent or presentation, fraudulent, or lacking evidence should not be used and offered a list of recommended substitutions, as a temporary stop-gap until the ICZN has developed a suitable response to actions of taxonomic vandals. They went on to list over 200 purportedly invalid taxonomic names that had been offered by Hoser.[5] Since then the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) ruled that it was self evident that Hoser's work was Code compliant and validly published under the ICZN Code. Whilst Hoser has been heavily condemned for prolific naming of new species, and been called a vandal for doing so, by contrast to many of his critics, he has never knowingly created a de-stabilizing dual nomenclature, ignored the ICZN Code rules particularly the rule of priority! Since then his critics have embarked on a systematic re-description of all of Hoser's valid names with priority.
↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Wallach", p. 279).
The Typhlopidae are a family of blind snakes. They are found mostly in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, the Americas, and all mainland Australia and various islands. The rostral scale overhangs the mouth to form a shovel-like burrowing structure. They live underground in burrows, and since they have no use for vision, their eyes are mostly vestigial. They have light-detecting black eye spots, and teeth occur in the upper jaw. Typhlopids do not have dislocatable lower jaw articulations restricting them to prey smaller than their oral aperture. The tail ends with a horn-like scale. Most of these species are oviparous. Currently, 18 genera are recognized containing over 200 species.
Myriopholis blanfordi, also known commonly as Blanford's worm snake and the Sindh thread snake, is a species of harmless blind snake in the family Leptotyphlopidae. The species is native to South Asia and Iran, and possibly further west in the Middle East. There are no recognized subspecies.
Myriopholis macrorhyncha, also known as the long-nosed worm snake or hook-snouted worm snake is a harmless blind snake species found in northern Africa and southwestern Asia. No subspecies are currently recognized.
Grypotyphlops acutus, also known as the beaked worm snake, beaked blind snake, or beak-nosed worm snake, is a harmless blind snake species endemic to peninsular India. It is the only species in the genus Grypotyphlops. No subspecies are currently recognized.
Typhlops is a genus of blind snakes in the family Typhlopidae. The genus is endemic to the West Indies. Some species which were formerly placed in the genus Typhlops have been moved to the genera Afrotyphlops, Amerotyphlops, Anilios, Antillotyphlops, Argyrophis, Cubatyphlops, Indotyphlops, Letheobia, Madatyphlops, Malayotyphlops, and Xerotyphlops.
Letheobia is a genus of blind snakes in the family Typhlopidae.
Nurse's blind snake is a species of snake in the family Leptotyphlopidae.
Cross's beaked snake is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae. The species is native to West Africa.
The St. Thomas beaked snake is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae. The species is native to the Gulf of Guinea off the western coast of Central Africa.
Letheobia newtoni is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae.
Rhinotyphlops scorteccii, commonly known as Scortecci's blind snake, is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae. The species is endemic to Somalia.
Stejneger's beaked snake is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae. The species is native to Middle Africa.
Bibron's blind snake is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae. The species is native to southern Africa.
Gierra's blind snake, also commonly called the Usambara spotted blind snake and the Usambara spotted worm snake, is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae. The species is endemic to Tanzania.
Steinhaus's worm snake is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae. The species is endemic to Central Africa.
Afrotyphlops schlegelii, commonly known as Schlegel's beaked blind snake or Schlegel's giant blind snake, is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae. The species is endemic to eastern and southern Africa, and bears the distinction of being the world's largest typhlopid. It is harmless to humans and lives exclusively on a diet of termites.
Myriopholis is a genus of snakes in the family Leptotyphlopidae. Most of the species were previously placed in the genus Leptotyphlops.
Afrotyphlops blanfordii, or Blanford's blind-snake, is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae. The species is native to the Horn of Africa.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
