Common names: dwarf pipe snakes.

The Anomochilidae, or anomochilids, are a monotypic

Monotypic

In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group with only one biological type. The term's usage differs slightly between botany and zoology. The term monotypic has a separate use in conservation biology, monotypic habitat, regarding species habitat conversion eliminating biodiversity and...

 family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 created for the genus Anomochilus, which currently contains 3 monotypic species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

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Description

Head small, not distinct from neck. Head with large symmetrical shields. Eye very small, distinct from the surrounding shields. Nostril in a single nasal, which forms a suture with its fellow behind the rostral. No loreal or preocular; a postocular. Body cylindrical. Dorsal scales smooth, in 21 rows. Ventrals very small, scarcely enlarged. Tail extremely short and blunt.

These three species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 much resemble those of the family Cylindrophiidae (Asian pipesnakes). However, they lack both a chin groove and teeth on their pterygoid

Pterygoid

Pterygoid can refer to:* Pterygoid processes of the sphenoid bone** The Lateral pterygoid plate by it* a muscle such as Lateral pterygoid muscle or Medial pterygoid muscle* a branch of the Mandibular nerve...

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Species

Species	Taxon author	Common name	Geographic range
A. leonardi Anomochilus leonardi Anomochilus leonardi is a species of snake in the family Anomochilidae, which is endemic to Malaysia. No subspecies are currently recognized.-Conservation status:...	M.A. Smith Malcolm Arthur Smith Malcolm Arthur Smith was a herpetologist and physician working in the Malay Peninsula.-Early life:He was interested in reptiles and amphibians from an early age... , 1940	Leonard's pipe snake	West Malaysia in Selangor Selangor Selangor also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity") is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sembilan to the south and the Strait of Malacca to the west...  and Pahang Pahang Pahang is the third largest state in Malaysia, after Sarawak and Sabah, occupying the huge Pahang River river basin. It is bordered to the north by Kelantan, to the west by Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, to the south by Johor and to the east by Terengganu and the South China Sea.Its state... .
A. weberi Anomochilus weberi Anomochilus weberi, or Weber's pipe snake, is a species of snake in the Anomochilidae family.-Description:Frontal quadrangular, nearly twice as large as the supraocular. No enlarged parietals. Four upper labials, third largest and in contact with eye. Dorsal scales in 21 rows. Ventrals 244,... T	(Lidth de Jeude In Weber, 1890)	Weber's pipe snake	Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...  on the island of Sumatra Sumatra Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538... .
A. monticola Anomochilus monticola Anomochilus monticola, or the mountain pipe snake, is a species of snake in the Anomochilidae family. It is endemic to Indonesia....	Das, Lakim, Lim & Hui, 2008	mountain pipe snake	Borneo Borneo Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

^T) Type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

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Taxonomy

The name of the genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 was originally Anomolochilus, which was given to it by T.W. van Lidth de Jeude in 1890. In 1901 C. Berg pointed out that that name was already occupied by a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of Coleoptera (beetle

Beetle

Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...

s), and he proposed as a replacement the name Anomochilus.

The genus, together with Cylindrophis, were both previously assigned to the subfamily Cylindrophinae under the family Uropeltidae, but were removed by Cundall et al. (1993) to prevent a paraphyletic relationship.