Delalande's Beaked Blind Snake

Fascinating facts about the Delalande's Beaked Blind Snake

• A snake that can squeeze its whole body into a tunnel only 35 times its diameter, its total length stretches 35 to 50 times the width of its slender frame, letting it slip through the tiniest soil cracks. This shows how evolution can turn a simple shape into a perfect burrowing tool.
• Its pointed, blade-like snout works like a tiny shovel; the nostrils sit just beneath a sharp horizontal edge, letting the snake push earth aside while keeping its breathing holes protected.
• At up to 35 cm (13¾ in) long, the snake carries more than 300 dorsal scales along its spine, arranged in 26–30 rows around the body.
• Living from sea level up to 2,200 m (7,200 ft) across semi-desert, savannah, coastal bush, and fynbos, this reptile occurs throughout the eastern half of Southern Africa, as far south as Cape Town, with isolated populations in western parts such as Namibia.
• The female lays 2–4 eggs, and the hatchlings are flesh-colored.

At a glance

About the Delalande's Beaked Blind Snake

Delalande's beaked blind snake, Rhinotyphlops lalandei, is a slender, pink-grey snake with a sharply pointed nose used for burrowing. It may attain a maximum snout-to-vent length of 35 cm and has 26–30 rows of dorsal scales, with more than 300 dorsal scales in the vertebral row. The nostrils are located below the horizontal cutting edge of the snout, and the tail ends in a spine that can be as broad as it is long, or broader. R. lalandei occurs throughout the eastern half of southern Africa, from sea level up to 2,200 m, in habitats such as semidesert, savannah, coastal bush, and fynbos. The species is oviparous, with females laying clutches of 2–4 flesh-colored eggs.

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