Meszoely's blind snake
Indotyphlops meszoelyi, the Darjeeling worm snake or Meszoely's blind snake, is a species of snake in the family Typhlopidae. The species is endemic to Darjeeling, West Bengal Province, India.
Indotyphlops meszoelyi was named after American paleontologist Charles A.M. Meszoely (born 1933) of the Center for Vertebrate Studies at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.
The holotype specimen of I. meszoelyi measures 17.9 centimetres (7.0 in) in total length (including tail), and has a diameter of 3 millimetres (0.12 in) in the middle of its body. It can be distinguished from other species in the same genus found in that region by the presence of a "deep concavity along the posterior border of the nasal shield". The snake is brown on its back and lighter brown on its belly, with the two colors merging into each other.
The holotype specimen of I. meszoelyi was collected in a region of rugged hills, in the foothills of the Himalayas. It is thought to inhabit temperate broadleaf forests. The area in which the specimen was collected was historically montane forest, but today has been mostly turned into fruit orchards and paddy fields. I. meszoelyi is oviparous, or egg-laying.
