Cairo blind snake

The Cairo blind snake (Myriopholis cairi) is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Leptotyphlopidae.^[3][4] The species is endemic to Africa.

Cairo blind snake
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Leptotyphlopidae
Genus:	Myriopholis
Species:	M. cairi
Binomial name
Myriopholis cairi (A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1844)
Synonyms[2]
Stenostoma cairi A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1844 Stenostoma fitzingeri Jan, 1861 Glauconia cairi — Boulenger, 1893 Leptotyphlops cairi — Parker, 1932 Myriopholis cairi — Adalsteinsson et al., 2009

Geographic range

M. cairi is found in Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Niger, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, and possibly in Libya.^[2]

Etymology

The specific name, cairi, commemorates the city of Cairo, Egypt. The specific name of the junior synonymy, Stenostoma fitzingeri, commemorates Austrian herpetologist Leopold Fitzinger.^[5]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of M. cairi is shrubland, at altitudes from sea level to 400 m (1,300 ft), and it is also found in moist cultivated areas.^[1]

Diet

M. cairi preys upon small invertebrates.^[1]

Reproduction

M. cairi is oviparous.^[2]

References

1. Baha El Din S, Wagner P, Wilms T (2021). "Myriopholis cairi ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T184109A1749089.en. Accessed on 24 December 2021.
2. Species Myriopholis cairi at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
3. 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).
4. "Leptotyphlops ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 29 August 2007.
5. 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 cairi and L. fitzingeri, p. 46).

Further reading

• Adalsteinsson SA, Branch WR, Trape S, Vitt LJ, Hedges SB (2009). "Molecular phylogeny, classification, and biogeography of snakes of the Family Leptotyphlopidae (Reptilia, Squamata)". Zootaxa 2244: 1-50. (Myriopholis cairi, new combination).
• Boulenger GA (1893). Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume I., Containing the Families Typhlopidæ, Glauconiidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 448 pp. + Plates I-XXVIII. (Glauconia cairi, pp. 65–66).
• Duméril A-M-C, Bibron G (1844). Erpétologie générale ou Histoire naturelle complète des Reptiles, Tome sixième. Paris: Roret. xii + 609 pp. (Stenostoma cairi, new species, pp. 323–325). (in French).