Typhlops cariei

Typhlops cariei is an extinct species of snake in the family of blind snakes ( Typhlopidae ). She was endemic to Mauritius and is known only by a few fossil tail vertebrae. The French paleontologist Robert Hoffstetter 1946 she put provisionally in the genus Typhlops, although it is not sure if she actually belongs to this genus. 1844 described André Marie Constant Duméril and Gabriel Bibron the also extinct blind snake Cathethorinus melanocephalus. 2010, it was assumed that both species could be related to each other. A DNA analysis, however, would not bring satisfactory results, since the bone material of the two species is preserved in alcohol. It is named after Paul Typhlops cariei Carei (1876-1930), an amateur naturalist, who on behalf of the Muséum national d' histoire naturelle excavations in the archaeological site Mare aux Songes made ​​around 1900 and thereby discovered the remains of this kind.

Features

Typhlops cariei is known only from seven fossil vertebrae from the middle region of the tail. The material comprises two rows of contiguous vertebrae and an isolated vertebrae. With an estimated length of more than 200 mm, the species was significantly longer than the flowerpot snake ( Ramphotyphlops braminus ), a blind snake that still occurs in Mauritius today. Furthermore, Typhlops cariei differed by various properties of the vertebral morphology.

Extinction

1994 Typhlops cariei has been included in the Red List of extinct species by the IUCN. The species probably died in the 17th century as a result of predation by introduced predators out.