Biogeographia – The Journal of Integrative Biogeography

The Brahminy blindsnake, Indotyphlops braminus (Daudin, 1803) complex, is a small, parthenogenetic typhlopid widely distributed across tropical and subtropical Asia and represented by numerous introduced populations worldwide. Although reported from neighbouring Pakistan and Iran, its occurrence in Afghanistan has remained unverified. During field surveys in Nangarhar Province, eastern Afghanistan, we collected a specimen morphologically consistent with I. braminus complex and generated mitochondrial DNA sequences (16S, COI, cytochrome b). Phylogenetic analyses, incorporating newly sequenced material from Pakistan, revealed that the Afghan and Pakistani samples form a distinct, well-supported clade within the I. braminus complex that is also known from southern India (I. cf. braminus II), and is genetically distinct from both I. braminus sensu stricto and the globally widespread introduced clade I. cf. braminus I. This constitutes the first genetically and morphologically confirmed record of Indotyphlops Hedges et al., 2014 from Afghanistan and the first published genetic data for the genus from Pakistan. Our findings extend the documented northwestern range limit of the I. braminus complex on the Indian subcontinent, with its occurrence in Afghanistan apparently associated with low-elevation subtropical river corridors and limited northwards by the high-elevation and arid landscapes of the Hindu Kush region. In addition, our global synthesis of genotyped records provides an “out-of-India” perspective on the worldwide introductions within the complex.