#worm lizard

Well, I don't know what you know i don't know that you know?

Here's 1...

Red Worm Lizard aka White-bellied Worm Lizard (Amphisbaena alba), family Amphisbaenidae, found in much of South America

These animals are secretive, and rarely seen. Little is known of their habits and natural history.

They feed on a wide variety of items, including small animals, fruits and flowers.

The females are larger, and reach a max. length of up to 80 cm (31.5 in).

Egg-laying (oviparous).

Will burrow into leaf cutter ant mounds (sometimes laying their eggs there).

They have the largest geographical distribution of all the amphisbaenians (worm lizards).

This species has a tough layer of flexible scales that help protect the skin from other animals.

photograph by Diogo B. Provete

photographs by Dick Bartlett

photographs by Jose Gabriel Wildlife

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:

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.

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.

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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