Leonard's pipe snake facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Leonard's pipe snake |
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Anomochilus
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| Species: |
leonardi
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| Anomochilus leonardi range in Malaysia | |
The Leonard's pipe snake (scientific name: Anomochilus leonardi) is a special kind of snake. It's also known as the Leonard's burrowing snake or Malayan giant blind snake. This unique snake belongs to the dwarf pipesnake family, called Anomochilidae.
You can only find this snake in certain parts of the world. It lives in the Malay Peninsula and on the island of Borneo. It prefers to live in old, untouched forests or very grown-up secondary forests. These are often called dipterocarp forests. It lives in places that are about 250 to 500 meters (820 to 1,640 feet) above sea level.
A scientist named Malcolm Arthur Smith first described this snake in 1940. The Leonard's pipe snake is a bit thick and shaped like a cylinder. It has a small head and a short, cone-shaped tail. It can grow up to 390 millimeters (about 15 inches) long. Its belly is black, and its back can be glossy black to purplish-brown. It also has cool yellow spots in two rows along its back. There's a yellow bar on its snout and a big red patch under its tail.
This snake is different from other snakes in its group because it doesn't have pale stripes on its sides. It also has a special scale on its forehead that is not paired. Plus, it has those pale patches along its back.
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About the Leonard's Pipe Snake
The Leonard's pipe snake is active at night. It is also a fossorial animal, which means it lives mostly underground. Scientists believe it probably eats earthworms and other long, thin creatures. It might even eat small snakes or legless lizards.
We don't know much about how this snake reproduces. However, other snakes in its family lay eggs. This is quite unusual for their larger group, called Uropeltoidea. Most snakes in that group give birth to live young.
The IUCN Red List is a group that checks on animals to see if they are in danger. They say the Leonard's pipe snake is of "least concern." This means it's not currently at high risk. One reason is that it lives in protected areas. Also, scientists think it might live in more places than we currently know about.
Naming and Family Tree
The British scientist Malcolm Arthur Smith officially described Anomochilus leonardi in 1940. He found two female snakes near a town called Merapoh in Pahang, Malaysia. The name leonardi was chosen to honor G. R. Leonard. He was the person who collected the first snake specimen.
Anomochilus leonardi is one of three species in the Anomochilus genus. A genus is a group of closely related species. This genus is the only one in the Anomochilidae family. This family is part of a larger group called the Uropeltoidea superfamily.
What Does it Look Like?
Like other snakes in its genus, the Leonard's pipe snake has a cylindrical body shape. It has a small, rounded head and a short, cone-shaped tail. It can grow up to 390 millimeters (about 15 inches) long from its snout to its vent (a special opening on its body).
The top of its body is a shiny black to purplish-brown color. Its underside is black. Along its back, it has two rows of yellow, oval-shaped spots. There's also a yellow stripe across its snout. A large red patch can be found on the scales under its tail.
Its head smoothly connects to its neck. Even though it lives underground, its snout doesn't have any special hard parts to help it burrow. Its back is smooth, and its scales are a bit larger than the scales on its belly.
This snake usually has 17 or 19 rows of scales around the middle of its body. It has between 214 and 252 scales down the middle of its belly. It also has 6 or 7 scales between its vent and the tip of its tail.
You can tell this snake apart from others by its small head and eyes. It also has large scales on its forehead. A single scale near its nose touches its second upper lip scale. It doesn't have certain scales called loreal and preocular scales. It only has one postocular scale (behind the eye). Also, it doesn't have a groove under its chin.
How it Compares to Relatives
The Leonard's pipe snake is the only Anomochilus species found on the Malay Peninsula. However, on Borneo, it lives alongside its two relatives, A. weberi and A. monticola.
It's different from A. weberi because it doesn't have pale stripes along its sides. It also has a single, unpaired scale on its forehead. You can tell it apart from A. monticola because A. leonardi has pale patches next to its back scales. Also, the number of scales on its belly is different (214–252 for leonardi versus 258–261 for monticola).
Where it Lives and Its Home
The Leonard's pipe snake is currently known to live only in a region called Sundaland. This includes Borneo and the Malay Peninsula. In Peninsular Malaysia, it has been found near Merapoh in Pahang. It's also been seen in Ulu Gombak and Kepong in Selangor. On Borneo, it's known from Sepilok in Sabah. Scientists believe that the snake's actual home range is probably much larger than we know right now.
This snake lives in old, untouched forests and mature secondary forests. These are often dipterocarp forests found in flat areas and hills. It usually lives at altitudes of about 250 meters (820 feet). However, some have been found as high as 500 meters (1,640 feet). It is often found near streams and rivers. Like other snakes in its group, it lives underground.
Life Cycle and Conservation
The Leonard's pipe snake is a nocturnal animal, meaning it is active at night. It is also fossorial, which means it spends most of its life burrowing and living underground. We don't know a lot about what it eats or how it reproduces.
Since it doesn't have a groove under its chin, scientists think it might eat long, thin invertebrates like earthworms. It might also eat small, slender vertebrates such as other snakes or legless lizards. We haven't observed how this specific snake reproduces. However, other Anomochilus snakes are known to lay eggs. This is unusual because most snakes in their larger group, the Uropeltoidea, give birth to live young.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified this species as being of "least concern." This is good news! It means the snake is not currently considered to be in danger. One reason for this is that it lives in nature reserves and protected areas. For example, it's found in the Ulu Gombak Forest Reserve and Taman Negara National Park. Also, scientists think its actual range might be bigger than what we know so far.
