Vietnam's bizarre, super-tiny worm snake
At first glance, many people would mistake them for adult earthworms, until the forked tongue typical of snakes flicks out and gives them a real fright. They are in fact genuine snakes, with all the anatomical features of a snake: a backbone, scales, and a head held up as they crawl.
They are known in Vietnamese as rắn giun, or "worm snakes", and can be found in many parts of Vietnam, from the north to the south, even in big cities such as Hà Nội, the capital, and Ho Chi Minh City (TP HCM). True to their name, worm snakes look very much like the common earthworm, with a rounded head and a glossy brown color. They usually live underground or in rubble and rotting firewood.
Only a very close look reveals that they are not worms, thanks to the following features: a scaly, unsegmented body, a pair of tiny eyes on the head, a mouth that can open, and above all the forked tongue characteristic of snakes. While earthworms feed on plant humus, worm snakes eat mainly the eggs of ants and termites.
Because they live in the soil, worm snakes' eyes are degenerate, reduced to tiny dots that provide almost no vision (which is why they are also called blind snakes in many places). Worm snakes are brownish-black, close to the color of earthworms but darker.
Another strange feature of worm snakes is that they can reproduce without males. Worm snakes lay about 8 eggs at a time, and in this form of reproduction without fertilization, all the eggs hatch into females.
This snake is found throughout Vietnam, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. It has also been recorded in Africa, the Middle East, the rest of tropical Asia and some temperate parts of Asia, Pacific islands, the Americas (Mexico, the United States) and Australia.
Their numbers are relatively small, probably because of their particular survival traits and their unisexual reproduction rather than because of human activities.
Below is a collection of photos of the strange worm snake:
Worm snakes look very much like the common earthworm.
The only difference is that they have scales...
And the unmistakable tongue of a snake.
A close-up of a worm snake's head.
Unlike the head, which is round like a worm's, a worm snake's tail is fairly pointed.
Compared with ordinary snakes, they really are "tiny" snakes.
An adult worm snake is only about 20cm long, smaller than a large earthworm.
This is a non-venomous snake.
Even if they had venom, they would be harmless, because their mouths are too small and weak to break human skin.
Although widespread in Vietnam, worm snakes are still rather rarely seen.
55 bird species ranked from largest to smallest
From the towering ostrich to the tiny bee hummingbird, here are 55 of the world's bird species ranked by size.
Common freshwater fish of Vietnam you should know
Freshwater fish live mainly in rivers and lakes with salinity below 0.05%. Here are the most common freshwater fish species in Vietnam.
New snake species discovered in the former Đắk Nông province, Vietnam
Researchers have discovered a new mud snake species, Myrrophis dakkrongensis, in the former Đắk Nông province (now part of Lâm Đồng) in Vietnam.
Out hunting rat snakes, a man nearly grabbed a creature more dangerous than a king cobra
Hunting Indochinese rat snakes after rain, a snake catcher nearly grabbed the lookalike red-necked keelback, for which no specific antivenom is currently available in Vietnam.
The world's most venomous snakes
From Belcher's sea snake and the inland taipan to the black mamba and Russell's viper, meet some of the most venomous snakes on Earth.
Fierce but non-venomous: the snake that helps Vietnam's farmers
The radiated ratsnake, widespread in Vietnam, is aggressive but has no venom. An excellent rat catcher, it is beneficial to agriculture.
