Earthworm blind snake

Typhlops lumbricalis is a small, slender non-venomous blindsnake characterized by a brown grayish color.{{Cite journal |last=Domínguez |first=Michel |last2=Díaz |first2=Raul E. |date=2011 |title=Taxonomy of the blind snakes associated with Typhlops lumbricalis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Scolecophidia, Typhlopidae) from the Bahamas Islands and Cuba |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/41238994.pdf |journal=Herpetologica |volume=67 |issue=2 |pages=194–211 |jstor=41238994}}{{Cite journal |last=Thomas |first=Richard |date=1968 |title=The Typhlops biminiensis Group of Antillean Blind Snakes |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1441839?origin=crossref |journal=Copeia |volume=1968 |issue=4 |pages=713–722 |doi=10.2307/1441839 |issn=0045-8511|url-access=subscription }} Individuals of this species can typically reach 119 to 162 mm long (mean 135 mm). They have a middorsal scale count between 256 and 271. The species can be distinguished from other closely related taxa by a thin and elongated oval rostral scale with a weakly divergent postnasal pattern.{{Cite journal |last=Iturriaga |first=Manuel |last2=Domínguez |first2=Michel |last3=Reynoso |first3=Víctor Hugo |date=2024-09-16 |title=Resurrection of Typhlops cubae Bibron, 1843 (Serpentes: Typhlopidae), with taxonomic comments on the Typhlops lumbricalis species group |url=https://mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5507.4.2 |journal=Zootaxa |language=en |volume=5507 |issue=4 |pages=534–548 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.5507.4.2 |issn=1175-5334|url-access=subscription }} The ocular structures are reduced or absent which results in the name "blind snake".

T. lumbricalis is distributed throughout much of the northern and central Bahamas. The primary range includes the Bimini Islands, specifically South Bimini Island, Abaco Island and Eleuthera Island. Records from the southern Bahamas, Cuba, and other Caribbean islands are now understood as T. cubae, T. oxyrhinus or T. biminiensis.

This species typically live in subterranean environments usually in moist soil, leaf litter and decomposing wood. Such habitats not only provide conditions for survival but also match the cryptic coloration of this snake, allowing for T. lumbricalis to blend effectively into its surroundings.

Like other blindsnakes, T. lumbricalis eat ants and termite eggs and larvae.{{Cite journal |last=DeVos |first=Tyler |last2=Giery |first2=Sean |date=2021-11-27 |title=Establishment of the introduced Brahminy Blindsnake (Indotyphlops braminus) on Abaco Island, The Bahamas, with notes on potential niche overlap with the native Cuban Brown Blindsnake (Typhlops lumbricalis) |url=https://journals.ku.edu/reptilesandamphibians/article/view/15667 |journal=Reptiles & Amphibians |language=en |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=555–557 |doi=10.17161/randa.v28i3.15667 |issn=2332-4961|doi-access=free }} The species has a specialized jaw that allows them to extract prey from insect nests.

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Category:Typhlops

Category:Reptiles described in 1758

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus

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