Leptotyphlops

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Leptotyphlops
Western blind snake, L. humilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Subphylum: Vertebrata Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes Family: Leptotyphlopidae Genus: Leptotyphlops Fitzinger, 1843
Synonyms
Stenostoma - Wagler, 1824 Typhlina - Wagler, 1830 Stenostona - Cuvier, 1836 Leptotyphlops - Fitzinger, 1843 Eucephalus - Fitzinger, 1843 Catodon - A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1844 Epictia - Gray, 1845 Glauconia - Gray, 1845 Rena - Baird & Girard, 1853 Sabrina - Girard, 1857 Ramphostoma - Jan In Jan & Sordelli, 1860 Tricheilostoma - Jan In Jan & Sordelli, 1860 Tetracheilostoma - Jan, 1861 Siagonodon - Peters, 1881 Stenostomophis - Rochebrune, 1884 Rhamphostoma - Boulenger, 1893[1]

Common names: slender blind snakes, threadsnakes.^[2]

Leptotyphlops is a genus of non-venomous blind snakes found throughout North and South America, Africa and southwestern Asia. Currently, 86 species are recognized.^[2]

Contents 1 Description 2 Geographic range 3 Behavior 4 Species 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Description

Most species look much like shiny earthworms. They are a pink or brown coloration, and their scales give them a segmented appearance. Other species are black in color, but have the same general body structure. Their common name comes from the fact that their eyes are greatly reduced almost to the point of uselessness, and hidden behind a protective head scale. The thread snake species are so named because of their very narrow, long bodies.

[edit] Geographic range

Found in the Americas, Africa and southwestern Asia. In the Americas from the southwestern United States, south through most of Central and South America as far as Uruguay and Argentina. Also found on San Salvador Island in the Bahamas, in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and in the Lesser Antilles. Also found on Socotra Island.^[1]

[edit] Behavior

Blind snakes are all burrowing snakes, spending most of their time deep in loose soil, typically only emerging when it rains and they get flooded out. Their primary diet is ant and termite larvae.

[edit] Species

Species[2]	Authority[2]	Subsp.*[2]	Common name	Geographic range
L. affinis	(Boulenger, 1884)	0	Venezuela blind snake
L. albifrons	(Wagler, 1824)	0	Wagler's blind snake
L. albipunctus	(Jan, 1861)	0
L. albiventer	Hallermann & Rödel, 1995	0
L. anthracinus	Bailey, 1946	0	Bailey's blind snake
L. asbolepis	Thomas, McDiarmid & Thompson, 1985	0
L. australis	Freiberg & Orejas-Miranda, 1968	0	Freiberg's blind snake
L. bicolor	(Jan, 1860)	0	Two-colored blind snake
L. bilineatus	(Schlegel, 1839)	0	Two-lined blind snake
L. blanfordii	(Boulenger, 1890)	0
L. borapeliotes	Vanzolini, 1996	0
L. borrichianus	(Degerbl, 1923)	0	Degerbol's blind snake
L. boulengeri	(Boettger, 1913)	0	Manda flesh-pink blind snake
L. brasiliensis	Laurent, 1949	0	Brazilian blind snake
L. bressoni	Taylor, 1939	0	Michoacán slender blind snake
L. brevicaudus	(Bocage, 1887)	0
L. brevissimus	Shreve, 1964	0	Caqueta blind snake
L. broadleyi	Wallach & Hahn, 1997	0
L. burii	(Boulenger, 1905)	0	Arabian blind snake
L. cairi	(A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1844)	0	Cairo blind snake
L. calypso	Thomas, McDiarmid & Thompson, 1985	0
L. collaris	Hoogmoed, 1977	0	Collared blind snake
L. columbi	Klauber, 1939	0	San Salvador blind snake
L. conjunctus	(Jan, 1861)	3	Cape thread snake
L. cupinensis	Bailey & Carvalho, 1946	0	Mata Grosso blind snake
L. debilis	(Chabanaud, 1918)	0	West African blind snake
L. diaplocius	Orejas-Miranda, 1969	0	Common Peru blind snake
L. dimidiatus	(Jan, 1861)	0	Dainty blind snake
L. dissimilis	(Bocage, 1886)	0	Sudan blind snake
L. distanti	(Boulenger, 1892)	0	Distant's blind snake
L. drewesi	Wallach, 1996	0
L. dugandi	Dunn, 1944	0	Dugand's blind snake
L. dulcis	(Baird & Girard, 1853)	2	Texas blind snake
L. emini	(Boulenger, 1890)	0
L. filiformis	(Boulenger, 1899)	0	Socotra Island blind snake
L. fitzingeri	(Jan, 1861)	0
L. gestri	(Boulenger, 1906)	0
L. goudotii	(A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1844)	3	Black blind snake
L. gracilior	(Boulenger, 1910)	0	Slender thread snake
L. guayaquilensis	Orejas-Miranda & Peters, 1970	0	Guayaquila blind snake
L. hamulirostris	(Nikolsky, 1907)	0
L. humilis	(Baird & Girard, 1853)	8	Western threadsnake
L. joshuai	Dunn, 1944	0	Joshua's blind snake
L. koppesi	Amaral, 1955	0	Amaral's blind snake
L. labialis	(Sternfeld, 1908)	0	Damara thread snake
L. leptepileptus	Thomas, McDiarmid & Thompson, 1985	0
L. longicaudus	(Peters, 1854)	0	Long-tailed thread snake
L. macrolepis	(Peters, 1857)	0	Big-scaled blind snake
L. macrops	Broadley & Wallach, 1996	0
L. macrorhynchus	(Jan, 1860)	0	Longnosed worm snake
L. macrurus	(Boulenger, 1903)	0	Boulenger's blind snake
L. maximus	Loveridge, 1932	0	Giant blind snake
L. melanotermus	(Cope, 1862)	0	Latin American blind snake
L. melanurus	Schmidt & Walker, 1943	0	Dark blind snake
L. munoai	Orejas-Miranda, 1961	0
L. narirostris	(Peters, 1867)	1
L. nasalis	Taylor, 1940	0	Taylor's blind snake
L. natatrix	(Andersson, 1937)	0	Gambia blind snake
L. nicefori	Dunn, 1946	0	Santander blind snake
L. nigricansT	(Schlegel, 1839)	0	Black thread snake
L. nursii	(Anderson, 1896)	0	Nurse's blind snake
L. occidentalis	FitzSimons, 1962	0	Western thread snake
L. perreti	Wilhelm Roux-Estève, 1979	0
L. peruvianus	Orejas-Miranda, 1969	0	Peru blind snake
L. pyrites	Thomas, 1965	0	Thomas' blind snake
L. reticulatus	(Boulenger, 1906)	0	Reticulate blind snake
L. rostratus	(Bocage, 1886)	0	Bocage's blind snake
L. rubrolineatus	(Werner, 1901)	0	Red-lined blind snake
L. rufidorsus	Taylor, 1940	0	Rose blind snake
L. salgueiroi	Amaral, 1955	0	Espírito Santo blind snake
L. scutifrons	(Peters, 1854)	0	Peter's thread snake
L. septemstriatus	(Schneider, 1801)	0	Seven-striped blind snake
L. signatus	(Jan, 1861)	0	South American blind snake
L. striatulus	Smith & Laufe, 1945	0
L. subcrotillus	Klauber, 1939	0	Klauber's blind snake
L. sundewalli	(Jan, 1861)	0	Sundevalls worm snake
L. teaguei	Orejas-Miranda, 1964	0	Northern blind snake
L. telloi	Broadley & Watson, 1976	0	Tello's thread snake
L. tesselatus	(Tschudi, 1845)	0	Tschudi's blind snake
L. tricolor	Orejas-Miranda & Zug, 1974	0	Three-colored blind snake
L. undecimstriatus	(Schlegel, 1839)	0	Eleven-striped blind snake
L. unguirostris	(Boulenger, 1902)	0	Southern blind snake
L. variabilis	(Scortecci, 1928)	0
L. vellardi	Laurent, 1984	0
L. weyrauchi	Orejas-Miranda, 1964	0	Argentine blind snake
L. wilsoni	Hahn, 1978	0	Wilson's blind snake

*) Not including the nominate subspecies (typical form).
^T) Type species.

[edit] See also

• List of leptotyphlopid species and subspecies.
• Leptotyphlopidae by common name.
• Leptotyphlopidae by taxonomic synonyms.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Leptotyphlops at the TIGR Reptile Database. Accessed 29 August 2007.