Slim blind snakes

Slim blind snakes
Trilepida macrolepis
Systematics
Superordinate : Scale lizards (Lepidosauria) Order : Scale reptiles (Squamata) without rank: Toxicofera Subordination : Snakes (serpentes) Superfamily : Blind snake-like (Typhlopoidea) Family : Slim blind snakes
Scientific name
Leptotyphlopidae
Stejneger , 1892

The slender blind snakes (Leptotyphlopidae), sometimes also referred to as worm snakes , are a family of snakes (Serpentes). These are mostly extremely small worm-like snakes 10 to 20 centimeters in length that live underground. About 115 species are known.

features

The slender blind snakes reach body lengths of 10 to 20 centimeters, the largest species Leptotyphlops macrolepis from Venezuela is also 30 centimeters long. They are yellowish-brown and covered by small, overlapping scales . The tail is short and in many species has an end spine for anchoring in the ground. The head is blunt and not detached from the body, the eyes are usually severely receded and covered by somewhat larger scales. The body is significantly narrower than that of the blind snakes (Typhlopidae), they also have an immobile and edentulous upper jaw and skeletal remains of the pelvis and hind leg bones.

Well-known species are the two approximately 15 centimeter long species Texas slender blind snake ( Rena dulcis ) and Mexican slender blind snake ( Rena humilis ), which are common in the dry, sandy areas of the southern United States and Mexico .

Among the leptotyphlopidae includes the smallest so far proven snake in the world, on Barbados occurring Tetracheilostoma carlae with a length of about ten centimeters and a diameter of 2.5 millimeters.

Internal system

Within the slender blind snakes two subfamilies are distinguished, the Epictinae occurring in North, Central, South America and Africa, and the Leptotyphlopinae, which are common in Africa and the Middle East.

Epictia goudotii

St. Lucia Slender Blind Snake ( Tetracheilostoma breuili )

• Subfamily Epictinae Hedges, Adalsteinsson & Branch, 2009
  • Epictia Gray, 1845
  • Mitophis Hedges, Adalsteinsson & Branch, 2009
  • Rena Baird & Girard, 1853
  • Rhinoleptus Orejas-Miranda, Roux-Estève & Guibé, 1970
  • Siagonodon Peters, 1881
  • Tetracheilostomy Jan, 1861
  • Tricheilostomy Jan, 1860
  • Trilepida Hedges, 2011
• Subfamily Leptotyphlopinae Stejneger, 1892
  • Epacrophis Hedges, Adalsteinsson & Branch, 2009
  • Leptotyphlops Fitzinger, 1843
  • Myriopholis Hedges, Adalsteinsson & Branch, 2009
  • Namibiana Hedges, Adalsteinsson & Branch, 2009

literature

• Adalsteinsson, Branch, Trape, Vitt & Hedges: Molecular phylogeny, classification, and biogeography of snakes of the Family Leptotyphlopidae (Reptilia, Squamata). Zootaxa 2244: 1-50 (2009) ( Abstract & Introduction, PDF, online )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ S. Blair Hedges: At the lower size limit in snakes: two new species of threadsnakes (Squamata, Leptotyphlopidae, Leptotyphlops ) from the Lesser Antilles. Zootaxa 1841 (2008): 1-30. ( PDF, online )

Web links

Commons : Slender Blind Snakes  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

• Leptotyphlopidae in The Reptile Database
• Ast, J. 2003: Leptotyphlopidae in Animal Diversity Web