Amaral's blind snake

Amaral's blind snake
Trilepida koppesi
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Leptotyphlopidae
Genus:	Trilepida
Species:	T. koppesi
Binomial name
Trilepida koppesi Amaral, 1955
Synonyms[2]
Leptotyphlops koppesi Amaral, 1955 Tricheilostoma koppesi — Adalsteinsson et al., 2009 Trilepida koppesi — Hedges, 2011

Amaral's blind snake (Trilepida koppesi), also known commonly as cobra-cega and cobra-de-chumbinho in Brazilian Portuguese,[2] is a species of snake in the family Leptotyphlopidae.[3][4] The species is native to South America.

Etymology

The specific name, koppesi, is in honor of S.J. Koppes, who collected the holotype in 1934.[5]

Description

T. koppesi may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 34 cm (13 in).[1]

Geographic range

T. koppesi is endemic to Brazil, where it is found in the Distrito Federal and the Brazilian states of Bahia, Goiás, and Mato Grosso.[2]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of T. koppesi are grassland and savanna.[1]

Diet

T. koppesi preys upon ants (larvae, pupae, and adults), termite larvae, and beetles.[1]

Reproduction

T. koppesi is oviparous.[2] Clutch size is five to seven eggs.[1]

References

1. Silveira AL et al. (22 authors) (2019). "Trilepida koppesi ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T203649A123738527.en. Accessed on 10 October 2024.
2. Species Trilepida koppesi at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
3. McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume).
4. "Leptotyphlops ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
5. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Leptotyphlops koppesi, p. 145).

Further reading

• Adalsteinsson SA, Branch WR, Trape S, Vitt LJ, Hedges SB (2009). "Molecular phylogeny, classification, and biogeography of snakes of the family Leptotyphlopidae (Reptilia, Squamata)". Zootaxa 2244: 1–50. (Tricheilostoma koppesi, new combination).
• Amaral A (1955). "Contribução ao conhecimento dos ofídios neotrópicos: 14. Descrição de duas espécies de "cobra-cega" (fam. Leptotyphlopidae) [= Contribution to the knowledge of the neotropical snakes: 14. Description of two species of "blindsnake" (family Leptotyphlopidae)]". Memórias do Instituto Butantan, São Paulo 26: 203–205. (Leptotyphlops koppesi, new species). (in Portuguese).
• Hedges SB (2011). "The type species of the threadsnake genus Tricheilostoma Jan revisited (Squamata, Leptotyphlopidae)". Zootaxa 3027: 63–64. (Trilepida koppesi, new combination, p. 63).
• Passos P, Caramaschi U, Pinto RR (2006). "Redescription of Leptotyphlops koppesi Amaral, 1954, and description of a new species of the Leptotyphlops dulcis group from Central Brazil (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae)". Amphibia-Reptilia 27 (3): 347–357.