The Typhlopidae are a family of blind snakes. They are found mostly in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, the Americas, and all mainland Australia and various islands.Shine, Richard (2007). Australian Snakes, a Natural History. Chatswood, New South Wales: New Holland Publishers. 224 pp. . 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 eye spots, and teeth occur in the upper jaw. Typhlopids do not have dislocatable lower jaw articulations, restricting them to prey smaller than their oral aperture. All species in the family Typhlopidae are fossorial and feed on social fossorial invertebrates such as termites and ants. The tracheal lung is present and chambered in all species. One species, the Brahminy blind snake, is the only unisexual snake, with the entire population being female and reproducing via parthenogenesis. The tail ends with a horn-like scale. Most of these species are oviparous. Currently, 18 genera are recognized containing over 200 species.
Evolution The Typhlopidae are thought to have originated on Madagascar during the Late Cretaceous, along with their sister group, the Xenotyphlopidae. The common ancestor of both families is thought to have diverged from the Gerrhopilidae earlier in the Cretaceous, when Insular India broke away from Madagascar. Afterwards, the Typhlopidae are thought to have dispersed out of Madagascar (leaving behind a single basal genus, Madatyphlops) into mainland Africa and then Eurasia, in contrast to the Xenotyphlopidae which remained restricted to Madagascar. From these regions, the Typhlopidae went on to colonize the rest of the world, with African typhlopids rafting across the Atlantic to South America during the Paleocene, then colonizing the Caribbean during the Oligocene, while Asian typhlopids colonized Australia from Southeast Asia or Indonesia later in the Oligocene.
Fossil record Possible Typhlopid skin has been identified in Dominican amber.
Geographic range They are found in most tropical and many subtropical regions all over the world, particularly in Africa, Asia, islands in the Pacific, tropical America, and southeastern Europe.
Genera GenusTaxon authorSpeciesCommon nameGeographic rangeAcutotyphlopsWallach, 19955Eastern Papua New Guinea and the Solomon IslandsAfrotyphlopsBroadley & Wallach, 200929sub-Saharan AfricaAmerotyphlopsHedges, Marion, Lipp, Marin & Vidal, 2014 19Mexico through South AmericaAniliosGray, 1845 48Australia and New Guinea.AntillotyphlopsHedges, Marion, Lipp, Marin & Vidal, 2014 12Caribbean islandsArgyrophisGray, 1845 12AsiaCubatyphlopsHedges, Marion, Lipp, Marin & Vidal, 2014 12Caribbean islandsCyclotyphlopsBosch & Ineich, 19941Indonesia: Selatan Province, southern SulawesiGrypotyphlopsW. Peters, 1881Resurrected for a reclassified Rhinotyphlops acutus by Wallach (2003). 1peninsular IndiaIndotyphlopsHedges, Marion, Lipp, Marin & Vidal, 2014 23AsiaLetheobiaCope, 1869Resurrected by Broadley & Wallach (2007). 37Africa and the Middle EastMadatyphlopsHedges, Marion, Lipp, Marin & Vidal, 2014 15Madagascar, the Comoro Islands, MauritiusMalayotyphlopsHedges, Marion, Lipp, Marin & Vidal, 2014 12the Philippines and IndonesiaRamphotyphlopsFitzinger, 184322long-tailed blind snakessouthern and southeast Asia, as well as many islands in the southern Pacific OceanRhinotyphlopsFitzinger, 18437AfricaSundatyphlopsHedges, Marion, Lipp, Marin & Vidal, 20141Indonesia and East TimorTyphlopsTOppel, 181120the West IndiesXerotyphlopsHedges, Marion, Lipp, Marin & Vidal, 20146Palearctic TType genus
Former genera Xenotyphlops, formerly classified in the Typhlopidae, is now classed in the Xenotyphlopidae.
See also List of typhlopid species and subspecies
References
External links