San Salvador blind snake

The San Salvador blind snake (Epictia columbi) is a species of snake in the family Leptotyphlopidae. The species is native to the Caribbean.[3][4]

San Salvador blind snake
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Leptotyphlopidae
Genus: Epictia
Species:
E. columbi
Binomial name
Epictia columbi
(Klauber, 1939)
Synonyms[2]

Etymology

The specific name, columbi, is in honor of Genoese explorer Christopher Columbus.[5]

Geographic range

E. columbi is endemic to San Salvador Island in The Bahamas.[6]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of E. columbi are forest and shrubland.[1]

Description

E. columbi may attain a total length (including tail) of 18 cm (7.1 in). It has 14 scale rows. The rostral and head are brown. The body is black to blackish brown dorsally (11 scale rows), and reddish brown to yellowish brown ventrally (3 scale rows).[2]

Diet

E. columbi preys upon termites.[1]

Reproduction

E. columbi is oviparous.[2]

References
  1. Buckner, S. (2016). "Epictia columbi (errata version published in 2017)". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T50956478A115405981. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T50956478A50956486.en. Downloaded on 24 July 2018.
  2. Species Epictia columbi at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  3. McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, T'Shaka A. TouréTouré T (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
  4. "Leptotyphlops ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
  5. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Leptotyphlops columbi, p. 57).
  6. Schwartz A, Thomas R (1975). A Check-list of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication No. 1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 216 pp. (Leptotyphlops columbi, p. 188).

Further reading
  • Adalsteinsson SA, Branch WR, Trape S, Vitt LJ, Hedges SB (2009). "Molecular phylogeny, classification, and biogeography of snakes of the family Leptotyphlopidae (Reptilia, Squamata)". Zootaxa 2244: 1–50. (Epictia columbi, new combination).
  • Klauber LM (1939). "Three New Worm Snakes of the Genus Leptotyphlops ". Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History 9 (14): 59–65. (Leptotyphlops columbi, new species, pp. 62–64 + Figures 3a & 3b on p. 65).
  • Schwartz A, Henderson RW (1991). Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History. Gainesville, Florida: University of Florida Press. 720 pp. ISBN 978-0813010496. (Leptotyphlops columbi, p. 618).
  • Wallach V, Williams KL, Boundy J (2014). Snakes of the World: A Catalogue of Living and Extinct Species. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group. 1,237 pp. ISBN 978-1482208474. (Epictia columbi, p. 276).



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