Joshua's blind snake

{{speciesbox

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Arredondo, J.C. |author-link=species:Juan Camilo Arredondo |author2=Wallach, V. |author2-link=Van Wallach |date=2015 |title=Trilepida joshuai |volume=2015 |page=e.T178428A44954468 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T178428A44954468.en |access-date=18 November 2021}}

| genus = Trilepida

| species = joshuai

| authority = (Dunn, 1944)

| synonyms = *Leptotyphlops joshuai
{{small|Dunn, 1944}}

Tricheilostoma joshuai
{{small|— Adalsteinsson et al., 2009}}
Trilepida joshuai
{{small|— Hedges, 2011}}

| synonyms_ref =

}}

Joshua's blind snake (Trilepida joshuai) is a species of snake in the family Leptotyphlopidae. The species is endemic to Colombia.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).{{ITIS|id=634467|taxon=Leptotyphlops |accessdate=29 August 2007}}{{NRDB species|genus=Trilepida|species=joshuai}}

Etymology

The specific name, joshuai, is a reference to Joshua, victor at the Battle of Jericho, in reference to the type locality, Jericó, Antioquia, Colombia.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 joshuai, p. 136).

Geographic range

T. joshuai is found in the Colombian departments of Antioquia, Caldas, and Valle del Cauca.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of T. joshuai is forest, at altitudes of {{cvt|1,600|–|2,200|m|ft}}, but it has also been found in urban areas.

Description

T. joshuai is black dorsally, and white ventrally. The total length (including tail) of the holotype is {{convert|27|cm|in|abbr=on}}.Dunn ER (1944).

Behavior

T. joshuai is terrestrial and fossorial.

Diet

T. joshuai preys upon insect larvae and termites.

Reproduction

T. joshuai is oviparous.