Range: East-central Suriname south to Mato Grosso, Brazil

 

The Mato Grosso blindsnake, named after its type location, is a strange species with either a very wide or exceedingly disjunct distribution, known officially from several disparate locations at the edge of its given range in northern South America but under-surveyed or detected elsewhere. It can grow to at least 24 cm in length, with an extremely slender cylindrical build and a narrow, slightly flattened head barely wider than the neck and a very short blunt tail with a rapidly tapered tip missing a caudal spine. The snout is also slightly flattened along the broad rostral scale. Dorsal scale count is 247-293, scale row count 14 all the way down the body including caudally. Coloration is a uniform yellow-golden or pinkish yellow color, paling near the head and tail tip. This species can be distinguished from its relatives by range, uniform color, 14 caudal scale rows, and higher average dorsal count.

 

Habitat: frequents termite mounds (named after the local name “cupin” for these mounds), and likely under  other debris or leaf litter in open forests and grasslands.

 

Prey: termites and other small soft-bodied insects.

 

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

 

Sources: https://www.inaturalist.org/photos/370876844 Fábio Luis dos Santos under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/Siagonodon/cupinensis
Francisco, B. S. et al. (2018). Taxonomic Notes on the Genus Siagonodon Peters, 1881, with a Report on Morphological Variation in Siagonodon cupinensis (Bailey and Carvalho, 1946) (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae). Copeia 106 (2): 321-328.