NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Villiers' Blind Snake
Rhinoleptus koniagui (Villiers, 1956)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Rhinoleptus koniagui, also known commonly as Villiers's blind snake, is a species of snake in the family Leptotyphlopidae. The species, which is indigenous to West Africa, is monotypic in the genus Rhinoleptus. It is among the smallest snakes in the world. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid.
Wikipedia contributors, Rhinoleptus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:34:17.614808+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Rhinoleptus koniagui (Villiers, 1956)
- Name authority
- (Villiers, 1956)
- Common name
- Villiers' Blind Snake
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Leptotyphlopidae
- Genus
- Rhinoleptus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderSerpentes Linnaeus, 1758
- infraorderScolecophidia Cope, 1864
- familyLeptotyphlopidae
- subfamilyEpictinae
- genusRhinoleptus
- speciesRhinoleptus koniagui (Villiers, 1956)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Typhlops koniagui Villiers, 1956 Villiers, 1956 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Rhinoleptus&species=koniagui Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4S94G. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.