False Blind Snakes: Anomochilidae

Scientists have never studied a live false blind snake, so they know nothing about its behavior. They did, however, find one female that had shelled eggs still inside her. From this, they guessed that the species lays eggs. Snakes, however, fall into three groups. One of them is oviparous (oh-VIH-puh-rus), which means that the female produces and lays shelled eggs. The babies in the eggs get all their necessary food from inside the egg until they hatch. The second group is viviparous (vie-VIH-puh-rus), which means that the mother makes no eggs, provides all of the food for the babies through connections inside of her body, and gives birth to baby snakes. No eggs are involved. The third group is ovoviviparous (oh-voh-vie-VIH-puh-rus), which falls somewhere between oviparous and viviparous. The females in ovoviviparous species produce eggs, but the eggs hatch inside her body just before she gives birth. The babies, then, get food from the egg rather than directly from the mother, but are born as baby snakes. Only oviparous species are considered to be egg-layers. The other two groups are said to be live-bearing snakes, meaning that they give birth to baby snakes rather than eggs. Since scientists have only seen eggs in a dead female but have never seen one give birth, they cannot tell for sure whether this species is oviparous or ovoviviparous.