Blackish blind snake

The blackish blind snake (Anilios nigrescens) is a species of snake in the Typhlopidae family native to south-eastern Australia.^[2][3][4]

Blackish blind snake
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Typhlopidae
Genus:	Anilios
Species:	A. nigrescens
Binomial name
Anilios nigrescens (Gray, 1845)
Synonyms
Typhlops nigrescens Typhlops rueppelli Typhlops temminckii Typhlops reginae Typhlops polygrammicus nigrescens Ramphotyphlops nigrescens Typhlina polygrammica Typhlina polygrammica nigrescens Austrotyphlops nigrescens

Description

It is a small burrowing snake with small dark eyes, a forked tongue and smooth scale around its body which permits them to travel through soil. They can grow to a size of 23 inches, with the largest recorded at 32 inches. Colour is brown/purplish on top, with a light shade of pink on the belly. The tail features a pointed tip which is a harmless spur. They can be mistaken for earthworms. Blind snakes move in a side-to-side motion on the ground, but underground they slither with tunnels made by insects.^[5]

Diet

The species lives most of its life underground feeding on ants, termites and their larvae. To find their food they flick their tongue to pick up the scent of an ant or termite trail and follow it back to the nest,^[6] where they rake the ants into their mouth using their upper jaw and swallow the food whole.^[5]