Two-lined blind snake
Species of snake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The two-lined blind snake (Tetracheilostoma bilineatum) is a harmless blind snake species endemic to Martinique in the Lesser Antilles.
| Two-lined blind snake | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Leptotyphlopidae |
| Genus: | Tetracheilostoma |
| Species: | T. bilineatum |
| Binomial name | |
| Tetracheilostoma bilineatum (Schlegel, 1839) | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Distribution
Though previously recorded on St. Lucia and Barbados, specimens identified to those islands were described in 2008 as separate species, L. breuili and L. carlae. A specimen identified as from Guadeloupe was reported by Duméril and Bibron (1844:331), but none are known from that island. The type locality given is "Vaterland Martinique."[2]
Description
It is dark brown with two yellow stripes along its sides. It was once known as the world's smallest snake, being small enough to slither through a pencil if the lead were removed. Its typical length is 11 cm (4.5 in).[3] However, the newly described L. carlae (Hedges, 2008) is reported to be even smaller.[4]