McDowell's blind snake (Gerrhopilus mcdowelli) is a species of snake in the family Gerrhopilidae.McDiarmid, Roy W.; Campbell, Jonathan A.; Touré, T'Shaka A. (1999). Snake Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference, Volume 1. Washington, District of Columbia: Herpetologists' League. 511 pp.
Etymology The specific name, mcdowelli, is in honor of American herpetologist Samuel Booker McDowell Jr.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Typhlops mcdowelli, p. 173).
Geographic range Gerrhopilus mcdowelli is endemic to Papua New Guinea.
Habitat The preferred natural habitat of Gerrhopilus mcdowelli is forest, at altitudes of .
Behavior Gerrhopilus mcdowelli is terrestrial and fossorial.
Diet Gerrhopilus mcdowelli preys upon larvae and adults of ants and termites.
Reproduction Gerrhopilus mcdowelli is oviparous.
References
Further reading
Vidal, Nicolas; Marin, Julie; Morini, Marina; Donnellan, Steve; Branch, William R.; Thomas, Richard; Vences, Miguel; Wynn, Addison; Cruaud, Corinne; Hedges, S. Blair (2010). "Blindsnake evolutionary tree reveals long history on Gondwana". Biology Letters 6: 558–561. (Gerrhopilus mcdowelli, new combination, p. 560). Wallach V (1996). "Two New Blind Snakes of the Typhlops ater Group from Papua New Guinea". Russian Journal of Herpetology 3 (2): 107–118. (Typhlops mcdowelli, new species).