Leptotyphlopidae

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: Leptotyphlopidae
Subfamiliae (2): Epictinae – Leptotyphlopinae

Overview of genera (14): Epacrophis – Epictia – Habrophallos – Leptotyphlops – Mitophis – Myriopholis – Namibiana – Rena – Rhinoguinea – Rhinoleptus – Siagonodon – Tetracheilostoma – Tricheilostoma – Trilepida

Name

Leptotyphlopidae Stejneger, 1892: 501 [conserved name]

Type genus: Leptotyphlops Fitzinger, 1843, by original designation.
Placed on the Official List of Family-Group Names in Zoology by Opinion 1207 (1982: 106).

Synonyms

Stenostomata Ritgen, 1828: 259 [original spelling]
Type genus: Stenostoma Wagler, 1824 [preoccupied by Stenostoma Latreille, 1810 (Coleoptera), and Stenostoma Lamarck, 1817 (Mollusca)], by subsequent designation.
Stenostomi — Wiegmann & Ruthe, 1832: 160
Stenostomina — Bonaparte, 1845: 377
Stenostomatidae — Günther, 1885: 85
Stenostomidae — Cope, 1886: 481
Glauconiidae Boulenger, 1890: 242
Type genus: Glauconia Gray, 1845, by monotypy.

References
Primary references

Ritgen, F.A. 1828. Versuch einer natürlichen eintheilung der Amphibien. Nova acta physico-medica Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae Naturae Curiosum 14: 245–286. BHL
Boulenger, G.A. 1890. Reptilia and Batrachia. pp. 1–541 in Blanford, W.T. (ed.). Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Taylor & Francis: London. BHL
Stejneger, L. [1891] 1892. Notes on some North American snakes. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 14: 501–505. BHL
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. 1982. Opinion 1207. Leptotyphlops and Ramphotyphlops Fitzinger, 1843 (Reptilia, Serpentes): conserved. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 39(2): 106–108. BHL Reference page.

Additional references

Adalsteinsson, S.A., Branch, W.R., Trape, S., Vitt, L.J. & Hedges, S.B. 2009. Molecular phylogeny, classification, and biogeography of snakes of the Family Leptotyphlopidae (Reptilia, Squamata). Zootaxa 2244: 1–50. Abstract & excerpt. Reference page.
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.
Pinto, R.R. et al. 2010. Taxonomy of the threadsnakes of the tribe Epictini (Squamata: Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae) in Colombia. Zootaxa 2724: 1–28. Preview
Hedges, S.B. 2011. The type species of the threadsnake genus Tricheilostoma Jan revisited (Squamata, Leptotyphlopidae). Zootaxa 3027: 63–64. Preview PDF
Trape, J.-F. 2014. Une espèce et un genre nouveaux de Rhinoleptini Hedges, Adalsteinsson & Branch, 2009, du Mali (Reptilia, Squamata, Leptotyphlopidae). Bulletin de la Société Herpétologique de France 152: 45–56. Reference page.
Pinto, R.R. & Fernandes, R. 2017. Morphological variation of Trilepida macrolepis (Peters 1857), with reappraisal of the taxonomic status of Rena affinis (Boulenger 1884) (Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae: Epictinae). Zootaxa 4244(2): 246–260. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4244.2.6. Reference page.
Martins, A., Koch, C., Pinto, R., Folly, M., Fouquet, A. & Passos, P. 2019. From the inside out: Discovery of a new genus of threadsnakes based on anatomical and molecular data, with discussion of the leptotyphlopid hemipenial morphology. Journal of Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 57(4): 840–863. DOI: 10.1111/jzs.12316 Paywall Reference page.

Vernacular names
dansk: Falske ormeslanger
Deutsch: Schlankblindschlangen
English: Thread Snakes
suomi: Matokäärmeet
Nederlands: Ijzerslangen
ไทย: งูเส้นด้าย

The Leptotyphlopidae (commonly called slender blind snakes or thread snakes[2]) are a family of snakes found in North America, South America, Africa and Asia. All are fossorial and adapted to burrowing, feeding on ants and termites. Two subfamilies are recognized.[2]

Description

These relatively small snakes rarely exceed 30 cm in length; only Trilepida macrolepis and Leptotyphlops occidentalis grow larger. The cranium and upper jaws are immobile and no teeth are in the upper jaw. The lower jaw consists of a much elongated quadrate bone, a tiny compound bone, and a relatively larger dentary bone.[3] The body is cylindrical with a blunt head and a short tail. The scales are highly polished. The pheromones they produce protect them from attack by termites.[4] Among these snakes is what is believed to be the world's smallest: L. carlae (Hedges, 2008).[5]
Geographic range

These snakes are found in Africa, western Asia from Turkey to eastern India, on Socotra Island, and from the southwestern United States south through Mexico and Central America to South America, though not in the high Andes. In Pacific South America, they occur as far south as southern coastal Peru, and on the Atlantic side as far as Uruguay and Argentina. In the Caribbean, they are found on the Bahamas, Hispaniola, and the Lesser Antilles.[1]
Habitat

They occur in a wide variety of habitats from arid areas to rainforest, and are known to occur near ant and termite nests.
Feeding

Their diets consist mostly of termite or ant larvae, pupae, and adults. Most species suck out the contents of insect bodies and discard the exoskeleton.[citation needed]
Reproduction

Snakes in this family are oviparous.[3]
Taxonomy

Subfamily Leptotyphlopinae
- Genus Epacrophis [Hedges, Adalsteinsson, & Branch, 2009] (3 species)
- Genus Leptotyphlops [Fitzinger, 1843] (20 species)
- Genus Myriopholis [Hedges, Adalsteinsson, & Branch, 2009] (23 species)
- Genus Namibiana [Hedges, Adalsteinsson, & Branc, 2009] (5 species)
Subfamily Epictinae
- Tribe Epictini, New World snakes
  - Subtribe Epictina
    - Genus Epictia [Gray, 1845] (44 species)
    - Genus Habrophallos [Martins, Koch, Pinto, Folly, Fouquet, & Passos, 2020] collared blind snake
    - Genus Siagonodon [Peters, 1881] (4 species)
  - Subtribe Renina
    - Genus Rena [Baird & Girard, 1853] (11 species)
    - Genus Trilepida [Hedges, 2011] (14 species)
  - Subtribe Tetracheilostomina
    - Genus Mitophis [Hedges, Adalsteinsson & Branch, 2009] (4 species)
    - Genus Tetracheilostoma [Jan, 1861] (3 species)
- Tribe Rhinoleptini, African snakes
  - Genus Tricheilostoma [Jan, 1860] (5 species)
  - Genus Rhinoleptus [Orejas-Miranda, Roux-Estève & Guibé, 1970] Villiers's blind snake
  - Genus Rhinoguinea [Trape, 2014] Rhinoguinea magna