Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia although some lizards are more closely related to these two excluded groups than they are to other lizards. Lizards range in size from chameleons and geckos a few centimeters long to the 3-meter-long Komodo dragon.
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 the Americas. The family Diploglossidae was also fomerly included. The family contains about 87 species in 8 genera.
Ophisaurus is a genus of superficially snake-like lizards in the family Anguidae.
Gerrhonotus is a genus of anguid lizards that are commonly referred to as alligator lizards, due to a vague resemblance to an alligator. Along with glass lizards (Ophisaurus) and many other lizards, alligator lizards have the ability to regrow their tail.
The slender glass lizard is a legless lizard in the Glass Lizard subfamily (Anguinae) The species is endemic to the United States. Two subspecies are recognized. The lizard was originally believed to be a subspecies of the eastern glass lizard. Their name comes from their easily broken tail which they can break off themselves without ever being touched. It is difficult to find a specimen with an undamaged tail. The lizard eats a variety of insects and small animals, including smaller lizards. Snakes and other animals are known to prey on the species. Humans have a part in destroying their environment and killing their food supply with insecticides. The lizard is considered to be a least-concern species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), though it is vulnerable in Iowa and endangered in Wisconsin. It is important to note that the streamlined, legless species is often confused with snakes. Glass Lizards, however, differ from snakes as they possess a moveable eyelid, which is absent in snakes. Another way to distinguish glass lizards from snakes is the presence of an external ear opening, which are absent in snakes.
The sheltopusik, also commonly called Pallas's glass lizard the European legless lizard, or the European glass lizard, is a species of large glass lizard found from Southern Europe to Central Asia.
François Marie Daudin was a French zoologist.
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 the 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.
Dopasia gracilis, known commonly as the Asian glass lizard, the Burmese glass lizard, or the Indian glass snake, is a species of legless lizard in the family Anguidae. The species is endemic to Asia.
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 Veracruz moist forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion in eastern Mexico.
The eastern glass lizard is a species of legless lizard in the family Anguidae, endemic to the Southeastern United States. The streamlined, legless species is often confused with snakes. Glass Lizards differ from snakes as they possess a moveable eyelid and an external ear opening, both of which are absent in snakes. Ventralis comes from the Latin "venter" meaning belly; this is in reference to the snake-like movement.
The mimic (rainbow) glass lizard is a species of lizard in the family Anguidae. The species is endemic to the Southeastern United States. The mimic glass lizard is dark brown to black with a dark middorsal stripe down the body and on most of the tail. They have 3-4 dark stripes separated by pale stripes above the lateral grooves. They have a very distinct anatomy of the axis specifically when it comes to their second vertebra which could be attributed to an ecological adaptation, feeding, and/or defensive behavior that requires high head and neck mobility.
The island glass lizard is a species of lizard in the family Anguidae. The species is endemic to the southeastern United States.
Dopasia is a genus of lizards in the family Anguidae. The genus contains seven species, which are native to Asia. They are most closely related to the North American Ophisaurus, and are sometimes considered part of that genus.
Ophisaurus ceroni, Ceron's glass lizard, is a species of lizard of the Anguidae family. It is found in Mexico.
