The Pestel amphisbaena (Amphisbaena leali) is a species of amphisbaenian in the family Amphisbaenidae. The species is endemic to Haiti.
Etymology The specific name, leali, is in honor of herpetologist Manuel Leal, co-collector of the holotype.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Amphisbaena leali, p. 153).
Description A. leali may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of . It is heavy-bodied, and its tail is relatively long for an amphisbaenian.
Geographic range A. leali is found in the Haitian department of Grand'Anse.
Habitat The preferred natural habitat of A. leali is forest.
Behavior A. leali is terrestrial and fossorial.
Reproduction A. leali is oviparous.
References
Further reading Henderson RW, Powell R (2009). Natural History of West Indian Reptiles and Amphibians. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. 495 pp. . (Amphisbaena leali, p. 339). Powell R, Henderson RW (2012). "Island lists of West Indian amphibians and reptiles". Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History 51 (2): 85–166. Thomas R, Hedges SB (2006). "Two New Species of Amphisbaena (Reptilia: Squamata: Amphisbaenidae) from the Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti". Caribbean Journal of Science 42 (2): 208–219. (Amphisbaena leali, new species, pp. 213–215, Figure 5).