Xenotyphlops

Xenotyphlops is a genus of snakes, the only genus of the family Xenotyphlopidae, comprising two species found only in Madagascar. These snakes are also known as the Malagasy blind snake.

==Evolution== Xenotyphlops is an ancient group that diverged from other blind snakes during the Cretaceous, following the separation of Madagascar from India. On the newly-isolated Madagascar, the ancestral Xenotyphlopidae and Typhlopidae diverged from one another; Typhlopidae dispersed worldwide from Madagascar while leaving behind a single Malagasy genus (Madatyphlops), while the Xenotyphlopidae remained restricted to Madagascar. Xenotyphlops, Madatyphlops, and the Madagascan big-headed turtle are the only Malagasy terrestrial vertebrates whose isolation on Madagascar is due to Gondwanan vicariance.