#worm lizard

[vintagewildlife]

Mexican worm lizard By: N. Cohen From: Life Nature Library: Reptiles 1963

[herpsandbirds]

Can you show us the weirdest animal in Mexico?

Paxon:

Why yes! I have posted this long ago, but it's time to show them off again!!!

Mexican Mole Lizard (Bipes biporus), family Bipedidae, endemic to the Baja California peninsula of Mexico

This 2 limbed lizard is fossorial (burrowing underground). They breed and lay their eggs underground.

It is one of only 3 amphisbaenians that have limbs.

They are the pinkest when young, and turn whiter as the mature.

Though they are rarely seen, they may actually be quite common in their range.

As with many burrowing creatures shaped like this (such as legless lizards and caecilians), there is a belief among some local people that they enter the anuses of people who defecate outside… this is, of course, not true. (Many of these animals are called “tapaculo”).

photos by Carl J Franklin, Dante Fenolio, & Mike Pingleton

photograph by Adam G. Clause

[typhlonectes]

What Is This Strange Creature, And Why Do Scientists Love It?

A recently discovered new species of ...worm lizard... could bring new hope for conservation to the mining regions of Brazil.

Scientists recently discovered a new species of worm lizard—a strange limb-less lizard that looks a bit like an oversized earthworm.

The new species has been named Amphisbaena amethysta after the region in which it lives, which is known in part for amethyst mining.

The researchers behind the discovery hope that the identification of this animal will help conservationists better achieve their goals of keeping local flora and fauna safe from industrial development.

Read more:

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/animals/a62559619/new-worm-lizard-brazil/

[every-day-creechur]

Black and White Worm Lizard Amphisbaena fuliginosa

It is found in northern South America including the island of Trinidad, and southwards to the Brazilian Cerrado biome. In Yanomami mythology Amphisbaena are said to emerge from the spinal columns of warriors killed in battle, and have a supernatural connection to the underworld.

img source

[mindblowingscience]

Fossil discovery reveals giant worm lizard with snail-cracking jaws

An international team of researchers has discovered a new fossil worm lizard species in Tunisia. Terastiodontosaurus marcelosanchezi is the

An international team of researchers has discovered a new fossil worm lizard species in Tunisia. Terastiodontosaurus marcelosanchezi is the largest known species of the Amphisbaenia group, with a skull length of over five centimeters. The work is published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Unlike today's predominantly subterranean worm lizards, this species may also have been a surface dweller. The fossil shows extreme dental features, including strong jaws and a specialized tooth enamel, which indicate that it fed on snails—a diet that has persisted for over 56 million years.

Continue Reading.

[scolop98]

saw a cybertruck in the wild today and was struck by how eyeless and wedge-shaped it looks. this is the car version of an amphisbaena's head or a blind mole rat/blesmol/zokor/any of those furry mole-rat-esque rodents. maybe even a golden mole. this is a subterranean creature that would never be exposed to the light of day under natural conditions.

[iris-polaris]

🟪 ANIMAL OF THE DAY: red worm lizard. Amphisbaena alba. it is from South America and it mostly eats bugs. by the way: this is not a snake! it is a Lizard. a legless Lizard. why is it legless? unsure. but i trust its Judgement

[alphynix]

Slavoia darevskii was a lizard that lived in what is now Mongolia and Kazakhstan during the Late Cretaceous, about 85-70 million years ago.

Around 12cm long ~(4.75"), it had a compact skull, small eyes, a short neck, shovel-like hands, an elongated body and slightly reduced hind limbs – all features that indicate it was a burrowing animal, digging tunnels and feeding on underground invertebrates.

Its exact relationships are uncertain, but recent studies have suggested it was an early amphisbaenian, representing a point in the group's evolution before the full loss of their legs and the development of their extremely long worm-like shape.

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