The Gerrhopilidae (Indo-Malayan blindsnakes) are a family of blindsnakes that contains at least 16 species in the genus ''

Gerrhopilus ''Gerrhopilus'' is a genus of snakes in the family Gerrhopilidae. Geographic range The 23 species of the genus ''Gerrhopilus'' are found in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Melanesia. Species *'' Gerrhopilus addisoni'' *'' Gerrhopilus andamanen ...

'', and possibly others (the genus '' Cathetorhinus'' and the species known as either ''Malayotyphlops manilae'', ''Gerrhopilus manilae'', or ''Typhlops manilae'') as well. These blindsnakes are found in India (including the Andaman Islands), Sri Lanka, Nepal, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia (including Java, Ternate, Sulawesi, Halmahera, Waigeu, Salawati, Irian Jaya, and Bali), and Papua New Guinea. These blindsnakes were considered to be part of the family

Typhlopidae The Typhlopidae are a family of blind snakes. They are found mostly in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, the Americas, and all mainland Australia and various islands. The rostral scale overhangs the mouth to form a shovel-like burrowing str ...

and were formerly known as the ''Typhlops ater'' species group. In 2010, they were discovered to be distantly related to other typhlopids and separated into their own family. Gerrhopilidae,

Xenotyphlopidae ''Xenotyphlops'' is a genus of snakes, the only genus of the family Xenotyphlopidae, comprising two species found only in Madagascar. These snakes are also known as the Malagasy blind snake. Physical characteristics The family Xenotyphlopidae is ...

, and

are grouped together in the superfamily Typhlopoidea to emphasize their closer relationship to one another than to the other two families of

scolecophidia The Scolecophidia, commonly known as blind snakes or thread snakes, are an infraorder of snakes. They range in length from . All are fossorial (adapted for burrowing). Five families and 39 genera are recognized. The Scolecophidia infraorder is mos ...

ns (

Leptotyphlopidae The Leptotyphlopidae (commonly called slender blind snakes or thread snakes) are a family of snakes found in North America, South America, Africa and Asia. All are fossorial and adapted to burrowing, feeding on ants and termites. Two subfamilies ...

and

Anomalepididae The Anomalepididae are a family of nonvenomous snakes, native to Central and South America. They are similar to Typhlopidae, except that some species possess a single tooth in the lower jaw. Currently, four genera and 15 species are recognized. ...

). Gerrhopilids differ from other blindsnakes in having gland-like structures ‘peppered’ over the head scales. Many species also have a divided preocular and/or ocular scale, and the second supralabialal scale overlaps the preocular in all species but one (''G. tindalli''). Recent studies have shown that there are many undiscovered species of blindsnakes, so it is likely that there are many more species of gerrhopilids yet to be discovered.

References

Snake families {{Scolecophidia-stub