Range: Southeastern coastal Brazil to northeast Argentina

 

The Rio Grande do Sul blind snake, so named after the central Brazilian state of its distribution, is a fairly widespread but still little-described inhabitant of eastern coastal South America. It can grow to just over 18 cm in length, with a generally slender cylindric build and a short, rounded head just barely wider than the neck with a very blunt, truncate snout. The tail is similarly short and stocky, with a very short spine at the tip. Dorsal scale count is low at 184-225, scale rows 14 reduced to 10 caudally. Coloration is a pale cream to tan background overlain by a series of dark brown to black stripes composed to rectangular spots across the center of each scale; the ventral surface is slightly darker brown than the dorsal background, and a whitish blotch covers the tail spine. This species can be distinguished from its closest relatives by its cream and brown striped coloration, low scale count, short truncated snout with paired supralabial (above upper lip) scales, and various other small scale arrangement details.

 

Habitat: undescribed in given literature, though likely loose soils and under logs or debris in coastal savannah and forest habitats.

 

Prey: likely small soft-bodied invertebrates such as ant and termite larvae.

 

Lifespan and reproduction: lifespan unknown, likely under 10 years. Oviparous.

 

Sources: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/99097493 Daniel Dias under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Epictia&species=munoai&search_param=%28%29
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/32480-Epictia-munoai
Pinto, R. and da Silva, D. (2012). Taxonomy of Epictia munoai (Orejas-Miranda, 1961) (Squamata: Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae). Zootaxa 3512: 42-52