Range: Northern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

 

Vindum’s blindsnake is a relatively recently described but commonly encountered species. It is a small species at up to 17 cm long but often shorter, with a very thin cylindrical build. The head is short and rounded, slightly tapered and barely wider than the neck, with a broad blunt and notably protruding snout, and the tail is very short and blunt, barely tapered with a very short conical terminal spine. Dorsal scale count is 230-253, scale row count 14 reduced to 10 caudally. Coloration is described as generally dark brown to near-black with moderate yellow stripes separating the dark into 7-9 lines of single scale-width. The head is solid brown with a distinctive large yellow rostral blotch, with similar color caudally with a larger caudal blotch that is largest ventrally. The belly is paler brown. This species can be distinguished from its relatives by the 7-9 dorsal stripes, caudal spot being notably larger ventrally than dorsally, and possessing a distinct frontal scale (between ocular scales).

 

Habitat: northern Yucatan in short deciduous thorn forest from 0-40 meters in elevation, under logs or other cover or in loose soil.

 

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/photos/51558377 Author Alvaro Monter Pozos under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Wallach, Van (2016). Morphological review and taxonomic status of the Epictia phenops species group of Mesoamerica, with description of six new species and discussion of South American Epictia albifrons, E. goudotii, and E. tenella (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae: Epictinae). Mesoamerican Herpetology 3(2): 216-374