Eryx jaculus, known commonly as the javelin sand boa, is a species of snake in the Boidae family.

The Javelin Sand Boa, or the Eryx Jaculus is a snake mainly found in Egypt and the middle east.

Scientists from Razi university write, “brownish-green or gray, with darker blotches, belly white or yellowish, uniform or speckled darker” (Rhadi,Pouyani et al.) Eryx jaculus is found in Eastern Europe and Balkans,[5][6] the Caucasus, the Middle East, and North-Africa.

[7] In late 2015 the snake was rediscovered near Licata on the south coast of Sicily after not having been officially recorded in Italy for eighty years.

Some countries the snake has been found in are; Algeria, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Romania, the Levant, Iraq and Iran.

Dorsally, it may be grayish, tan, brownish, or reddish, with darker blotches or bars in an irregular network.

A very good description comes from the scientist at the university in Iran, “A green brown, or gray snake dorsally with darker blotches, and with a spotted yellowish or white belly; no neck, a stumpy tail, small plates on the head, a vertical pupil, posterior dorsals slightly keeled, ventrals narrow” (Rhadi,Pouyani et al.).

Schleich and Szyndlar tell us “The oldest unquestionable records of this genus are somewhat younger: they come from the end of the lower Miocene (MN 4) of Al-Sarrah in Saudi Arabia (''Eryx-Gongylophis group": Rage, 1982) and of Córcoles in central Spain (Alférez and Brea, 1981)” (Schleich and Szyndlar 235).

The javelin sand boa was one of a number species of snake used by ancient Greeks as projectiles during naval battles in order to cause fear and confusion on enemy vessels.