Range: Northern South America, Colombia to French Guiana

 

One of many species for which there is no suitable common name (though “South American Blind Snake” is applied, this title is too generalistic when considering the dozens of blindsnake species on the continent), E. amazonica is also a species that like many of its relatives is poorly documented and has little accessible information out on it. Recorded from central Colombia, southern Venezuela, Guyana, and French Guiana, this range suggests a likely broader distribution that may include northern Brazil and Suriname as well. Without access to the original paper description or the revised account in Atlas Serpientes de Venezuela (Natera-Mumaw et al., 2015), this is about all that is firmly known. The snake is likely moderately sized at around 30 cm in length, with a small blunt head and an equally blunt but even thicker spine-tipped tail. 14 rows of smooth, shiny scales cover the body, colored uniformly black with light gray outlines except for a yellow patch on the snout and tail tip. Divergent traits from related species, especially E. signata with which it was once synonymized, are unknown.

 

Habitat: unknown, likely loose rocky soils.

 

Prey: Unknown, likely small invertebrates such as ant and termite larvae.

 

Lifespan and reproduction: lifespan unknown. Oviparous.

 

Sources: https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/241873437 copyright https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Epictia&species=amazonica