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SINGAPORE – A snake not seen in Singapore for over 172 years was spotted in Bukit Timah Nature Reserve last month, according to a report filed on Thursday (Oct 31).
Dr John van Wyhe, a senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore, found the lined blind snake, also known by its scientific name Ramphotyphlops lineatus, dead on a bike trail at the nature reserve on Sept 16.
Striped and worm-like, but over 50cm in length, the black snake’s discovery changes its previous status of “indeterminate” – or in need of verification – to “extant”, now that its existence has been definitively recorded here in modern times.
“It was quite unexpected to find it in Singapore since it is an uncommonly seen species even in Malaysia,” said Mr Law Ing Sind, who helped identify the snake. “We still don’t know the current population size or how that population is distributed in Singapore.”
The 23-year-old co-founder of the Herpetological Society of Singapore, an enthusiast group for the study of reptiles and amphibians, said the features and habits of the lined blind snake could explain its elusiveness.
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