''Anomochilus monticola'', the mountain pipe snake, or Kinabalu giant blind snake, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

in the

Anomochilidae The Anomochilidae, or anomochilids, are a monotypic family of snakes, created for the genus ''Anomochilus'', which currently contains three species. It is commonly called the dwarf pipe snake. Description Anomochilids are small snakes, with mus ...

family. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to northern

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

and only known from

Kinabalu Park Kinabalu Park ( ms, Taman Kinabalu), established as one of the first national parks of Malaysia in 1964, is Malaysia's first World Heritage Site designated by UNESCO in December 2000 for its "outstanding universal values" and the role as one of ...

(

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

, Malaysia). It is known from altitudes of

asl American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...

, characterized by montane forest. It presumably is

fossorial A fossorial () animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily, but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, meerkats, and mole salamanders, as well as many beetles, wasps, and bees. Prehistoric eviden ...

Description

''Anomochilus monticola'' grow to at least in snout–vent length. Head is not distinct from the stout body. The eyes are small, in diameter. Tail is short, just . The body has iridescent blue black ground colour. The dorsum is largely uniform in colour, but there is a pale horn coloured transverse bar across the snout. Ventrally, there are series of large pale horn coloured blotches. Chrome orange band encircles the tail base.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2852298 Anomochilidae Endemic fauna of Borneo Endemic fauna of Malaysia Reptiles of Malaysia Reptiles described in 2008 Reptiles of Borneo