#pygopus

[herpsandbirds]

Western Hooded Scaly-foot (Pygopus nigriceps), family Pygopodidae, Western Australia

Legless lizard.

photograph by Artur Tomaszek

[snototter]

A common scaly-foot (Pygopus lepidopodus) in Australia's Wheatbelt. Though it looks snake-like, Pygopus are actually legless geckos.

by Jordan Vos

[herpsandbirds]

Common Scaly-foot Lizard (Pygopus lepidopodus), family Pygopodidae, South Australia

Legless lizard.

photograph by Jack Bilby

[herpsandbirds]

Western Hooded Scaly-foot (Pygopus nigriceps), family Pygopodidae, Francois Peron National Park, Western Australia

Legless lizard.

photograph by Mick Fullerton

[herpsandbirds]

Common Scaly-foot Lizard (Pygopus lepidopodus), family Pygopodidae, Denmark, Western Australia

Legless lizard.

photograph by Ross McGibbon

[herpsandbirds]

Eastern Hooded Scaly-foot Lizard (Pygopus schraderi), family Pygopodidae, Rufus, NSW, Australia

This legless lizard is in a groups called the "flapfooted lizards". They are geckos, one of 7 families of gecko.

photograph by Mick Fullerton Wildlife

[thlpp]

Common Scalyfoot (Pygopus lepidopodus) by Chris Hay Via Flickr: A sub-adult Common Scalyfoot, Pygopus lepidopodus, observed foraging on the forest floor. Lamington National Park, S.E. Qld.

[kidsneedscience]

Butt-Footed, Scaly Footed?  Wait, that’s a Lizard?

There is a family of squamates known as the pygopodidae, known commonly as legless lizards, flap footed lizards or snake-lizards.  The species pictured above is a pygopus lepidopodus and lives exclusively in Australia and New Guinea.  The binomial name is descriptive:  pygopus comes from the Ancient Greek words πυγή (pyge) meaning rump or butt and  πούς (pous) meaning foot; lepidopodus is a combination of λεπις (lepis) meaning a fish scale and again pous meaning foot.  As squamates (from the Latin word squama meaning scales), the pygopus falls somewhere between snakes and lizards-I mean that in a general-wait, what is it-kind of way and not a taxonomic description-they have no forelimbs and only very small or vestigial rear limbs (the butt-foot).  Unlike snakes, however, the pygopodidae can both vocalize with a high pitch squeak, they can also hear a huge range much beyond that of most snakes and lizards.  

Photo courtesy of eyeweed under a Creative Commons 3.0 license.