NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Common Lined Worm Snake
Afrotyphlops lineolatus (Jan, 1864)
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
The lined blind snake (Afrotyphlops lineolatus), also known as the common lined blind snake, common lined worm snake, or lineolate blind snake, is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae. It is widely distributed in Sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east and Angola and Zambia in the south. It mainly eats ants and termites.
Wikipedia contributors, Lined blind snake; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:35:37.119688+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Afrotyphlops lineolatus (Jan, 1864)
- Name authority
- (Jan, 1864)
- Common name
- Common Lined Worm Snake
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Typhlopidae
- Genus
- Afrotyphlops
- 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
- familyTyphlopidae
- genusAfrotyphlops
- speciesAfrotyphlops lineolatus (Jan, 1864)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Afrotyphlops. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Angola blind snakeAfrotyphlops angolensis (Bocage, 1866) | TyphlopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Kakamega blind-snakeAfrotyphlops kaimosae (Loveridge, 1935) | TyphlopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Elegant Worm SnakeAfrotyphlops elegans (Peters, 1868) | TyphlopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Usambara Spotted Worm SnakeAfrotyphlops gierrai (Mocquard, 1897) | TyphlopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Spotted Blind SnakeAfrotyphlops punctatus (Leach, 1819) | TyphlopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Bicoloured blind skinkAfrotyphlops nigrocandidus (Broadley & Wallach, 2000) | TyphlopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Slender Blind SnakeAfrotyphlops obtusus (Peters, 1865) | TyphlopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Afrotyphlops schlegelii (Bianconi, 1849) | TyphlopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Steinhaus' Worm SnakeAfrotyphlops steinhausi (Werner, 1909) | TyphlopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Schmidt’s blind-snakeAfrotyphlops schmidti (Laurent, 1956) | TyphlopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Calabresi’s blind-snakeAfrotyphlops calabresii (Gans & Laurent, 1965) | TyphlopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Afrotyphlops chirioi Trape, 2019 | TyphlopidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Typhlops blanfordii Boulenger, 1894 Boulenger, 1894 | ambiguous synonym |
| Typhlops punctatus Scortecci, 1928 Scortecci, 1928 | synonym |
| Typhlops eschrichtii Blanford, 1870 Blanford, 1870 | ambiguous synonym |
| Typhlops (Ophthalmidion) lineolatus Jan, 1864 Jan, 1864 | synonym |
| Typhlops boulengeri Bocage, 1893 Bocage, 1893 | synonym |
| Typhlops tornieri Sternfeld, 1910 Sternfeld, 1910 | ambiguous synonym |
| Typhlops bocagei Bethencourt-Ferreira, 1904 Bethencourt-Ferreira, 1904 | 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=Afrotyphlops&species=lineolatus 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:65JFM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.