The Gerrhopilidae (Indo-Malayan blindsnakes) are a family of blindsnakes that contains at least 16 species in the genus '' Gerrhopilus'', 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 (biology), family Xenotyphlopidae, comprising two species found only in Madagascar. These snakes are also known as the Malagasy blind snake. Evolution ''Xenotyphlops'' is an anc ...

, and

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

Anomalepididae The Anomalepididae are a Family (biology), 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 Genus, genera and 15 ...

). The Gerrhopilidae are thought to have originated on Insular India during the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

, shortly after its separation from Madagascar. They later colonized other regions of tropical Asia following India's collision with mainland Asia during the

Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...

. 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