Cairo blind snake explained

The Cairo blind snake (Myriopholis cairi) is a species of nonvenomous snake in the family Leptotyphlopidae.^[1] The species is endemic to Africa.

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.^[3]

Habitat

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

Diet

M. cairi preys upon small invertebrates.

Reproduction

M. cairi is oviparous.^[2]

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).

Notes and References

1. [:fr:Roy Wallace McDiarmid|McDiarmid RW]
2. www.reptile-database.org.
3. [species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]