Mexican burrowing snake

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iMexican burrowing snake

Mexican Burrowing Snake, Loxocemus bicolor

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Serpentes
Superfamily:	Henophidia
Family:	Loxocemidae
Genus:	Loxocemus
Species:	L. bicolor

Binomial name

Loxocemus bicolor
Cope, 1861

The Mexican burrowing snake, Loxocemus bicolor, is a henophid snake that lives along the Pacific coast of central Mexico south to Honduras and north-western Costa Rica. It is the only member of the family Loxocemidae.

It is found in a variety of habitats including tropical, moist, dry and forests. On average this snake grows to roughly 1m (3ft). It is an egg layer, laying small clutches of eggs. It is a stout snake with a very muscular body. It has a shovel shaped snout, narrow head, and small eyes to facilitate burrowing. It typically has a dark body with patches of white scales, although occasionally after shedding it will lose all of the pigment in the body, resulting in a white snake with a small dark patch on its head.

As its name implies, it's a burrowing snake, and as a result is hard to observe and study. It is the sole member of its family and its relation to other snakes is not known. It resembles pythons in several respects, but since pythons are not found in the Americas, is believed to be unrelated. Its diet is believed to consist of rodents and lizards. It has been observed eating iguana eggs.