Liotyphlops ternetzii, also known commonly as Ternetz's blind snake, is a species of snake in the family Anomalepididae.McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. (series). (volume). The species is endemic to South America.
Etymology The specific name, ternetzii, is in honor of ichthyologist Carl Ternetz (born 1870).Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Liotyphlops ternetzii, p. 263).
Geographic range L. ternetzii is found in northern Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Brazil. The record from Suriname (as Liotyphlops incertus) is questionable.
Habitat and ecology The natural habitats of L. ternetzii are grassland, savanna, and gallery forest, at altitudes of . It is a fossorial species that preys predominantly upon insects, particularly ants and termites.
Description L. ternetzii measure in total length (including tail).
Reproduction L. ternetzii is oviparous. An adult female may lay a clutch of 2–7 eggs.
References
Further reading Boulenger GA (1896). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume III. ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiv + 727 pp. + Plates I-XXV. (Helminthophis ternetzii, new species, p. 584). Dixon JR, Kofron CP (1983). "The Central and South American Anomalepid [sic] Snakes of the Genus Liotyphlops ". Amphibia-Reptilia 4 (2): 241–264. (Liotyphlops ternetzii, p. 255). Freiberg MA (1982). Snakes of South America. Hong Kong: T.F.H. Publications. 189 pp. . (Liotyphlops ternetzii, p. 86). Marra Santos FJ (2023). "A new species of the genus Liotyphlops Peters, 1881 (Serpentes, Anomalepididae) from Colombia, and the synonymization of Liotyphlops beui (Amaral, 1924) with Liotyphlops ternetzii (Boulenger, 1896)". ZooKeys 1146: 87–114.