SafekipediaAnomalepididae
Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience
The Anomalepididae are a family of nonvenomous snakes that live in Central and South America. These small snakes are often called primitive blind snakes or dawn blind snakes. They look similar to another group of snakes called Typhlopidae, but some Anomalepididae snakes have a special single tooth in their lower jaw.
Scientists currently recognize four different genera and 15 different species of these interesting snakes. Even though they are called "blind" snakes, they are not actually blind—they just have very small eyes and usually live underground or in burrows. These snakes play an important role in their ecosystems by helping control the populations of small insects and other tiny creatures.
Description
Species in the family Anomalepididae are small snakes, usually less than 30 cm (12 in) long including their tails. They have blunt heads and short, blunt tails. These snakes mainly live underground, which is why their eyes are not well developed.
Geographic range
The Anomalepididae family of snakes lives in Southern Central America and north-western South America. There are also some separate groups of these snakes in north-eastern and south-eastern parts of South America.
Genera
The Anomalepididae family includes four different groups, called genera. These small, nonvenomous snakes live in Central and South America. One special feature of some species is a single tooth in their lower jaw, which sets them apart from similar snakes.
| Genus | Taxon author | Species | Geographic range |
|---|---|---|---|
| AnomalepisT | Jan, 1860 | 4 | From southern Central America in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, to north-western South America in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. |
| Helminthophis | W. Peters, 1860 | 3 | From southern Central America in Costa Rica and Panama, to northwestern South America in Colombia and Venezuela. Possibly, one species has been introduced in Mauritius. |
| Liotyphlops | W. Peters, 1881 | 12 | Central and South America from Costa Rica south to Paraguay. |
| Typhlophis | Fitzinger, 1843 | 1 | Along the Atlantic coast of South America from the Guyanas to Pará state in northern Brazil. Also on the island of Trinidad. |
This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Anomalepididae, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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