Dibamidae or blind skinks is a family of lizards characterized by their elongated cylindrical body and an apparent lack of limbs. Female dibamids are entirely limbless and the males retain small flap-like hind limbs, which they use to grip their partner during mating. They have a rigidly fused skull, lack pterygoid teeth and external ears. Their eyes are greatly reduced, and covered with a scale.
Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Skinks are characterized by their smaller legs in comparison to typical lizards and are found in different habitats except arctic and subarctic regions.
Brachymeles is a genus of skinks. The majority of the species within the genus are endemic to certain island ecosystems in the Philippines. In 2018, the Zoological Society of London through its EDGE of Existence Program listed the Cebu small worm skink as the 80th most evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered reptile species in the world, making it the most endangered member of the genus Brachymeles.
Miriam's skink is a skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Thailand.
Lerista is a diverse genus of skinks endemic to Australia, commonly known as sliders.
Ophiomorus is a genus of Old World skinks. The limbs are either reduced or absent, depending on the species. They are sometimes known as limbless skinks or snake skinks. Members of the genus live under rocks or in burrows.
Many vertebrates are limbless, limb-reduced, or apodous, with a body plan consisting of a head and vertebral column, but no adjoining limbs such as legs or fins. Jawless fish are limbless but may have preceded the evolution of vertebrate limbs, whereas numerous reptile and amphibian lineages – and some eels and eel-like fish – independently lost their limbs. Larval amphibians, tadpoles, are also often limbless. No mammals or birds are limbless, but some feature partial limb-loss or limb reduction.
Legless lizard may refer to any of several groups of lizards that have independently lost limbs or reduced them to the point of being of no use in locomotion. It is the common name for the family Pygopodidae. These lizards are often distinguishable from snakes on the basis of one or more of the following characteristics: possessing eyelids, possessing external ear openings, lack of broad belly scales, notched rather than forked tongue, having two more-or-less-equal lungs, and/or having a very long tail.
Anomalopus mackayi, commonly known as the five-clawed worm skink, long-legged worm skink, and Mackay's burrowing skink, is a species of smooth-scaled burrowing skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to eastern Australia.
Acontias gracilicauda, the slendertail lance skink or thin-tailed legless skink, is a species of skink. It is found in the Republic of South Africa and Lesotho. Acontias namaquensis was formerly included in this species as a subspecies, but is now recognized as a distinct species.
Acontias meleagris, or the Cape legless skink, is a species of skink found in the southern Cape of South Africa. It has no limbs, like most members of the subfamily Acontinae.
Brachymeles bonitae, commonly known as the stub-limbed burrowing skink or pretty short-legged skink, is a species of skink found in the Philippines. It was first described in 1839 by André Marie Constant Duméril and Gabriel Bibron. It is endemic to the Philippines.
The common short-legged skink is a species of skink endemic to the Philippines. It is found throughout most of the country, albeit very rarely, and hence the species is poorly characterized.
Brachymeles bicolor, common name two-colored short-legged skink, is a species of skink endemic to Luzon, the Philippines. It is widely distributed through the island, at elevations of 250 to 850 m above sea level. However, its population is declining due to deforestation, and hence the species is classified as least concern by the IUCN.
Tungao's slender skink is a species of skinks found in the Philippines, in the Scincidae family.
Praeteropus gowi, also known commonly as Gow's burrowing skink and the speckled worm-skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Queensland in Australia.
The limbless snake-tooth skink is a species of skink. It is endemic to north-eastern Queensland, Australia. It is a large, fossorial skink that occurs in the rainforest of coastal ranges and lowlands.
Hikida's short-legged skink is a species of skink endemic to Malaysia.
Brachymeles burksi, the Burks' burrowing skink, is a species of skink endemic to the Philippines. It occurs on the islands of Mindoro and Marinduque. It was synonymized with Brachymeles bonitae by Walter C. Brown in 1956 but revalidated by Cameron D. Siler and colleagues in 2020.
Schadenberg's burrowing skink is a species of skink endemic to the Philippines.
