Snake family · Dawn blindsnakes
Anomalepididae
Primitive, tiny burrowing snakes of the American tropics.
About the Anomalepididae family
Dawn blindsnakes are minute, worm-like burrowers that, like other blindsnakes, feed on ants and termites. They retain several primitive features that interest biologists studying early snake evolution.
- Where they live
- Southern Central America and South America.
- How to recognize one
- Tiny, shiny, and worm-like, with vestigial eyes.
- Danger to people
- Harmless.
Species (15)
Bonda Blind SnakeLiotyphlops bondensisHarmless
Caracas BlindsnakeLiotyphlops caracasensisHarmless
Cope's Blind SnakeLiotyphlops anopsHarmless
Costa Rica Blind SnakeHelminthophis frontalisHarmless
Liotyphlops pinoHarmless
Mexican Blind SnakeAnomalepis mexicanaHarmless
São Paulo Blind SnakeLiotyphlops schubartiHarmless
São Sebastião Blind SnakeLiotyphlops caissaraHarmless
Ternetz's Blind SnakeLiotyphlops ternetziiHarmless
Trinidad Blind SnakeTyphlophis squamosusHarmless
Whitenose Blind SnakeLiotyphlops albirostrisHarmless
Wilder's Blind SnakeLiotyphlops wilderiHarmless- No photoColombian Blind SnakeAnomalepis colombiaHarmless
- No photoCundinamarca Blind SnakeLiotyphlops argaleusHarmless
- No photoMato Grosso Blind SnakeLiotyphlops tayloriHarmless
Genera in the Anomalepididae family
2 genera with two or more species. Open one to read about the group and browse all its snakes.
Keep learning
- What Is a Snake? Anatomy and the BasicsA clear overview of what makes a snake a snake: limbless body plan, anatomy, evolution from lizards, species diversity, and why they are ectothermic.
- How Snakes Move, Hunt, and EatHow snakes move without legs, hunt as ambushers or active foragers, kill by constriction or venom, and swallow prey wider than their head.
- What Do Snakes Eat?All snakes are carnivores. Learn what snakes eat, how diet changes with size and age, how often they feed, and how they hunt and swallow prey.
- Venomous vs Nonvenomous: How to Tell the DifferenceThe folk rules for telling venomous snakes apart, where each one fails, and why location-based identification beats guessing by sight.