Gerrhopilidae

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Subordo: Serpentes
Superfamilia: Typhlopoidea

Familia: Gerrhopilidae
Genera (2): Cathetorhinus – Gerrhopilus
Name

Gerrhopilidae Vidal, Wynn, Donnellan & Hedges, 2010: 560

Type genus: Gerrhopilus Fitzinger, 1843, by original designation.

References
Primary references

Vidal, N., Marin, J., Morini, M., Donnellan, S., Branch, W.R., Thomas, R., Vences, M., Wynn, A., Cruadd, C. & Hedges, S.B. 2010. Blindsnake evolutionary tree reveals long history on Gondwana. Biology Letters 6(4): 558–561. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2010.0220 Open access Reference page.

Additional references

Pyron, R.A. & Wallach, V. 2014. Systematics of the blindsnakes (Serpentes: Scolecophidia: Typhlopoidea) based on molecular and morphological evidence. Zootaxa 3829(1): 1–81. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3829.1.1 Reference page.

The Gerrhopilidae (Indo-Malayan blindsnakes) are a family of blindsnakes that contains at least 16 species in the genus Gerrhopilus, and possibly others (the genus Cathetorhinus[1] and the species known as either Malayotyphlops manilae, Gerrhopilus manilae, or Typhlops manilae)[2] as well.[3] These blindsnakes are found in India (including the Andaman Islands), Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia (including Java, Ternate, Sulawesi, Halmahera, Waigeu, Salawati, Irian Jaya, and Bali), and Papua New Guinea.

These blindsnakes were considered to be part of the family Typhlopidae and were formerly known as the Typhlops ater species group. In 2010, they were discovered to be distantly related to other typhlopids and separated into their own family.[4] Gerrhopilidae, Xenotyphlopidae, and Typhlopidae are grouped together in the superfamily Typhlopoidea to emphasize their closer relationship to one another than to the other two families of scolecophidians (Leptotyphlopidae and Anomalepididae).

Gerrhopilids differ from other blindsnakes in having gland-like structures ‘peppered’ over the head scales. Many species also have a divided preocular and/or ocular scale, and the second supralabialal scale overlaps the preocular in all species but one (G. tindalli).

Recent studies have shown that there are many undiscovered species of blindsnakes, so it is likely that there are many more species of gerrhopilids yet to be discovered.
References

Cheke, A. (2010). "Is the enigmatic blind snake Cathetorhinus melanocephalus (Serpentes: Typhlopidae) an extinct endemic species from Mauritius?". Hamadryad. 35: 101–104.
Wynn, A.H.; Diesmos, A.C.; Brown, R.M. (2016). "Two new species of Malayotyphlops from the northern Philippines, with redescriptions of Malayotyphlops luzonensis (Taylor) and Malayotyphlops ruber (Boettger)". Journal of Herpetology. 50: 157–168. doi:10.1670/14-104.
"Gerrhopilidae". The Reptile Database. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
Vidal, N.; Marin, J.; Morini, M.; Donnellan, S.; Branch, W.R.; Thomas, R.; Vences, M.; Wynn, A.; Cruaud, C.; Hedges, S.B. (2010). "Blindsnake evolutionary tree reveals long history on Gondwana". Biology Letters. 6 (4): 558–561. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2010.0220. PMC 2936224. PMID 20356885.