Typhlops tycherus, endemic Honduras blindsnake
First live and intact specimen of Typhlops tycherus, collected near the type locality in El Cedral, 1,550 m elevation, Montana de Santa Barbara, Honduras.
Townsend JH, LD Wilson, LP Ketzler, IR Luque-Montes. 2008. The largest blindsnake in Mesoamerica: a new species of Typhlops (Squamata: Typhlopidae) from an isolated karstic mountain in Honduras. Zootaxa 1932: 18–26.
(photo/text: Josiah Townsend)
Western Blind Snake (Leptotyphlops humilis)
- Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, AZ, USA
Aka Western Thread Snake. The body is very thin, and it reaches a max length of 12 inches (30 cm). This blind fossorial (burrowing) snake is found in the SW united States and in Northern Mexico. The eyes are vestigial and located beneath a layer of skin. They feed mainly on ants and termites, and their eggs and larvae.
(photo: C. Hayes)
cxppuccino asked: My grandma, Janet Prohaska, Discovered the first blind snake in Guam. :)
Oh wow, cool. I had to go look up what the species was, but apparently she discovered the Brahminy Blind Snake (Ramphotyphlops braminus) on Guam by Westerners, originally from mainland asia, which was in fact the first snake discovered on Guam! Awesome! :3
Blindsnakes (family Typhlopidae)
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 eyespots, and teeth occur in the upper jaw. The tail ends with a horn like scale. Most of these species are oviparous. Currently, 6 genera are recognized containing 203 species… (read more: Wikipedia)
(photo: Leptotyphlops drewesi, Kenya, by D. Lin)
Golden Blindsnake (Typlops elegans), a species of small fossorial (burrowing) blindsnake, though thick built for a blindnsake, endemic to Príncipe Island, off the coast of Africa.
(photos: D. Lin)
Fea’s Wormsnake (Rhinotyphlops feae), a species of small fossorial (burrowing) blindsnake endemic to São Tomé, an island off the coast of Africa.
(photo: D. Lin)
Brahminy Blind Snake (Ramphotyphlops braminus) aka Flowerpot Blind Snake
A species of blind snake originally from Africa and Asia that now lives in many tropical areas.
(photos by Hank Plank)
Beaked Blind Snake (Rhinotyphlops acutus)
The Beaked Blind Snake is largest among the Indian Worm snakes and can grow upto 600mm, the one I had was about 400mm. They are they only species with a beaked snout. Found commonly in the peninsular India south of the Gangetic plain but rarer south of latitude 16ºN. An interesting folklore / myth associated with blind snake is that they enter ears of people sleeping on the ground. this has resulted in the Tamil name of the snake Sevi pamboo, literally translated it means ear snake.
(text/photos: Tarique Sani)
I’m kicking myself for not getting a better series of shots of this snake. Probably one of the prettiest Scolecophidians in the world. This is an endemic burrower on the island of Principe in Equatorial West Africa. I found it wandering above ground in broad daylight. Before being found by the California academy of sciences first expedition ot Principe, experts did not know this species was bright yellow, as the species’ color fades with preservation.
(photo/text by Pseudacris on Flickr)
dailysnake: Brahminy Blindsnake (Ramphotyphlops braminus)
(photo: Gary Nafis)
Ancient Blind Snakes Hitched Ride on Drifting Continents
Blind snakes are small worm-like creatures that likely feel their way through underground homes by sensing chemicals through their skin.
It turns out, these organisms have been around since 150 million years ago, when the supercontinent called Gondwana was just breaking up, according to new genetic research. The study suggests that when Madagascar broke off of India, the blind snakes hitched a ride aboard the giant slabs of Earth.
The result: Blind snakes evolved into different species that ultimately spread around the globe…
(read more: Live Science)
