The Santander blind snake (Trilepida nicefori) is a species of snake in the subfamily Epictinae of the family Leptotyphlopidae.McDiarmid RW, Campbell JA, Touré TA (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp. (series). (volume). The species is endemic to Colombia.
Etymology The specific name, nicefori, is in honor of missionary Brother Nicéforo María (1888–1980), born Antoine Rouhaire in France, who established a natural history museum in Medellín, Colombia.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Leptotyphlops nicefori, p. 190).
Geographic distribution Trilepida nicefori is known only from Santander Department, Colombia.
Habitat The preferred natural habitat of Trilepida nicefori is forest, at elevations of .
Description Trilepida nicefori is a very small snake. Adults may attain a total length (including tail) of . It is uniform brown dorsally, and beige ventrally.
Behavior Trilepida nicefori is terrestrial and fossorial.
Diet Trilepida nicefori preys upon termites and also eats insect larvae.
Reproduction Trilepida nicefori is oviparous.
References
Further reading Adalsteinsson SA, Branch WR, Trape S, Vitt LJ, Hedges SB (2009). "Molecular phylogeny, classification, and biogeography of snakes of the family Leptotyphlopidae (Reptilia, Squamata)". Zootaxa 2244: 1–50. (Rena nicefori, new combination). Dunn ER (1946). "A New Snake from the Eastern Andes of Colombia". Caldasia 4 (17): 121–122. (Leptotyphlops nicefori, new species). Hedges SB (2011). "The type species of the threadsnake genus Tricheilostoma Jan revisited (Squamata, Leptotyphlopidae)". Zootaxa 3027: 63–64. (Trilepida nicefori, new combination, p. 63). Pinto, Roberta Richard; Passos, Paulo; Caicedo Portilla, José Rances; Arrendondo, Juan Camilo; Fernandes, Ronaldo (2010). "Taxonomy of the threadsnakes of the tribe Epictini (Squamata: Serpentes: Leptotyphlopidae) in Colombia". Zootaxa 2724: 1–28. (Tricheilostoma nicefori, new combination).