Vindum's Worm Snake

As with most Epictia species, Epictia vindumi looks like a worm. The species is brown with yellowish stripes running its length, with a small yellow spot at the body's front end. The head is slightly wider than the neck. The snake's scale arrangement formula, often used by herpetologists to identify species, is 14–14–14, meaning that there are 14 rows of scales at the neck, 14 rows at the body's middle, and 14 rows at the tail area before the cloaca. To distinguish the species from similar ones, much more technical details must be noticed.

Epictia vindumi is endemic just to the northern portion of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, in the states of Yucatán and Quintana Roo, at elevations of up to about 30 meters (~100 feet).

The genus name Epictia was first published by John Edward Gray in 1845. However, in that publication he doesn't explain the name's origin. The species name vendumi honors Jens Vindum, Senior Collection Manager, Department of Herpetology, California Academy of Sciences, and commemorates his 35 years of service to the museum.

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