| Anguis graeca | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Anguidae |
| Genus: | Anguis |
| Species: | A. graeca |
| Binomial name | |
| Anguis graeca Bedriaga, 1881 | |
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Anguis graeca, the Greek slow worm, is a species of lizard in the family Anguidae found in Greece, Albania, and North Macedonia. [1] It engages in death feigning behavior when threatened. [2]
Anguidae refers to a large and diverse family of lizards native to the Northern Hemisphere. Common characteristics of this group include a reduced supratemporal arch, striations on the medial faces of tooth crowns, osteoderms, and a lateral fold in the skin of most taxa. The group is divided into two living subfamilies, the legless Anguinae, which contains slow worms and glass lizards, among others, found across the Northern Hemisphere, and Gerrhonotinae, which contains the alligator lizards, native to North and Central America. The family Diploglossidae was also formerly included. The family contains about 87 species in 8 genera.
Slowworms are a small genus (Anguis) of snake-like legless lizards in the family Anguidae. The genus has several living species, including the common slowworm, the eastern slowworm, the Greek slowworm, the Peloponnese slowworm, and the Italian slowworm. There are also known fossil species.
Ophisaurus is a genus of superficially snake-like legless lizards in the subfamily Anguinae. Known as joint snakes, glass snakes, or glass lizards, they are so-named because their tails are easily broken; like many lizards, they have the ability to deter predation by dropping off part of the tail, which can break into several pieces, like glass. The tail remains mobile, distracting the predator, while the lizard becomes motionless, allowing eventual escape. This serious loss of body mass requires a considerable effort to replace, and can take years to do so. Despite this ability, the new tail is usually smaller than the original.
The slow worm is a reptile native to western Eurasia. It is also called a deaf adder, a slowworm, a blindworm, or regionally, a long-cripple and hazelworm. These legless lizards are also sometimes called common slowworms. The "blind" in blindworm refers to the lizard's small eyes, similar to a blindsnake.
The Greek tortoise, also known commonly as the spur-thighed tortoise, is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. Testudo graeca is one of five species of Mediterranean tortoises. The other four species are Hermann's tortoise, the Egyptian tortoise, the marginated tortoise, and the Russian tortoise. The Greek tortoise is a very long-lived animal, achieving a lifespan upwards of 125 years, with some unverified reports up to 200 years.
Anguinae is a subfamily of legless lizards in the family Anguidae, commonly called glass lizards, glass snakes or slow worms. The first two names come from the fact their tails easily break or snap off. Members of Anguinae are native to North America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. They first appeared in Europe during the early Eocene, around 48–49 million years ago, originating from North American ancestors that crossed over from Greenland via Thule Land Bridge and spread toward Asia sometime after the drying of the Turgai Strait at the beginning of the Oligocene, and then across the Bering Land Bridge to North America during the Miocene. Very vestigial hindlegs are present in Hyalosaurus and Pseudopus, but are entirely absent in the other genera. Members of the group largely feed on insects and other invertebrates. The largest living species, the Sheltopusik, can reach lengths of 120 centimetres (47 in).
The Peloponnese slowworm is a species of lizard in the family Anguidae endemic to Greece. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, temperate shrubland, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, temperate grassland, arable land, pastureland, plantations, and rural gardens.
Koelliker's glass lizard, also called commonly the Moroccan glass lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Anguidae. The species is native to western North Africa.
The Anguimorpha is a suborder of squamates. The group was named by Fürbringer in 1900 to include all autarchoglossans closer to Varanus and Anguis than Scincus. These lizards, along with iguanians and snakes, constitute the proposed "venom clade" Toxicofera of all venomous reptiles.
Anguis veronensis, commonly known as the Italian slow worm or Italian slowworm, is a European lizard species in the family Anguidae. The slow worm is distributed throughout Italy and in southeastern part of France.
Ophisaurus incomptus, the plainneck glass lizard, is a species of lizard of the Anguidae family. It is found in Mexico.
Anguis colchica, the eastern slowworm, is a species of lizard in the family Anguidae found in eastern Europe and Asia. It is easily confused with the common slowworm, due to their physical similarities, and the proximity of their distribution.
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