Ramphotyphlops; what a name! It is pronounced Ram – foh – tie – flops, and means ‘beaked blind eye’.
This is the only genus of blind snake (family Typhlopidae) in Australia. Given that they all burrow beneath the surface and look very much like finely scaled earthworms, blind snakes remain one of our most poorly known groups of vertebrates.
Ramphotyphlops grypus, showing black head and tail with cream snout-tip
