Snakes of Europe/Species/Typhlopidae

The Typhlopidae are a family of blind snakes, first described by Merrem in 1820. They are found mostly in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, the Americas, and all mainland Australia and various islands. The rostral scale overhangs the mouth to form a shovel-like burrowing structure. They live underground in burrows, and since they have no use for vision, their eyes are mostly vestigial. They have light-detecting black eye spots, and teeth occur in the upper jaw. The tail ends with a horn-like scale. Most of these species are oviparous. Currently, 10 genera are recognized containing over 200 species.

Geographic range

They are found in most tropical and many subtropical regions all over the world, particularly in Africa, Asia, islands in the Pacific, tropical America, one species is found in southeastern Europe.

Species of Interest

In Europe the only native species is Typhlops vermicularis, the Blind Snake or Worm Snake of the genus Typhlops, it is found in southeastern Europe, the Balkans, and islands in the Aegean with distribution stretching across to Afghanistan.