Vedda worm snake

The Vedda worm snake (Indotyphlops veddae), also known commonly as Veddha's blind snake, is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae.^[2][3][1] The species is endemic to Sri Lanka.

Vedda worm snake
Conservation status
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Family:	Typhlopidae
Genus:	Indotyphlops
Species:	I. veddae
Binomial name
Indotyphlops veddae (Taylor, 1947)
Synonyms[1]
Typhlops veddae Taylor, 1947 Indotyphlops veddae — Hedges et al., 2014

Etymology

The specific name, veddae, is in honor of the Vedda people, aboriginal inhabitants of Sri Lanka.^[4]

Geographic range

The type locality of I. veddae is near Trincomalee, Sri Lanka.^[5]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of I. veddae is forest.^[5]

Description

I. veddae is uniformly lavender-gray, small, and very slender. The holotype has a total length of 90.5 mm (3.56 in), including the tail which is 2.75 mm (0.108 in) long. The average body width is 1.5 mm (0.059 in).^[6]

Reproduction

I. veddae is oviparous.^[1]

References

1. Indotyphlops veddae at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 29 July 2018.
2. "Typhlops ". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved August 15, 2010.
3. McDiarmid, Roy W.; Campbell, Jonathan A.; Touré, T'Shaka A. (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, vol. 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. ISBN 1-893777-00-6 (series). ISBN 1-893777-01-4 (volume). (Typhlops veddae, p. 123).
4. 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. (Typhlops veddae, p. 273).
5. Taylor EH (1950). "The Snakes of Ceylon". University of Kansas Science Bulletin 33 (14): 519–603. (Typhlops veddae, pp. 527–528).
6. Taylor EH (1947).

Further reading

• Hedges SB, Marion AB, Lipp KM, Marin J, Vidal N (2014). "A taxonomic framework for typhlopid snakes from the Caribbean and other regions (Reptilia, Squamata)". Caribbean Herpetology 49: 1–61. (Indotyphlops veddae, new combination, p. 6).
• Taylor EH (1947). "Comments on Ceylonese Snakes of the Genus Typhlops with Descriptions of New Species". University of Kansas Science Bulletin 31 (13): 283–298. (Typhlops veddae, new species, pp. 294–295, Figures 3A, 3B).