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Sheltopusik or European Legless Lizard (Pseudopus apodus), family Anguidae, Eastern Europe

photograph by Konrad Mebert

#glass lizard #legless lizard #anguidae #pseudopus #lizard #reptile #herpetology #animals #nature #europe

The extinct sheltopusik Pseudopus pannonicus from the Neogene of Europe for another friend's Birthday. This species has the widest temporal and geographical distribution in the genus Pseudopus: its remains are described from the Upper Miocene-Lower Pleistocene of many European countries, including Spain in the west and Ukraine in the east. Many features of P. pannonicus are also present in modern P. apodus, so these species are sister species. In 2023, new material was described from locations in Moldova, the Northern Caucasus and Ukraine, among these bones is a fairly complete and the largest maxilla known for P. pannonicus, reaching almost 3.7 cm in length, as well as other fragments of skulls, vertebrae and osteoderms, in addition, the dentary of a juvenile individual is described. The entire skull could reach about 100 mm in length, making this species of sheltopusik the largest representative of its genus and Anguinae subfamily, to which the modern sheltopusik, as well as Dopasia, Ophisaurus and Anguis belong. Like its relatives today, it probably had a diet that mainly included animals with hard coats, and given its large size (given the proportions of modern P. apodus, P. pannonicus had a length of about 250 centimeters), then the food base could be much wider, including other reptiles and small mammals. Based on the skeletal reconstruction provided by my friend.

Black ballpoint pen and black colored pencil, 2023.