Legless lizards. Types of legless lizards

The world of living nature is so beautiful that, knowing, it would seem, a huge number of species, families, classes of animals, insects, fish, reptiles, birds and seeing their extraordinary uniqueness, we still can never learn about them all. Studying some, mankind misses the appearance of new specimens, exploring others - it loses its rare representatives that are becoming obsolete.

The variety of reptiles always shakes the imagination of the man in the street. The number of lizards on the planet, according to scientists, exceeds 4000 known and more or less studied species. Of these, 3,500 are the most significant and widespread group, which consists of about 300 genera and 20 major families.

So, legless lizards are amazing representatives related to the reptilian family of the squad, called scaly.

Structure

Lizards of this species do not have holes that are responsible for hearing. Bone plates located under the scaly surface of the skin are fragile and poorly developed. There are no extremities at all. The eye lids are very mobile, the eyes are small. Jaws are rigidly connected. There is no arch of the temporal region.

Lifestyle

The main place of existence in everyday life for them is sandy soil. Here, under the ground, lizards look for food, break through the passage in the ground, and bring offspring. On the surface of the earth, they almost do not go out, preferring a "dark" and cozy home.

Dwelling in the conditions of the prevalence of soil over vegetation, they do not suffer from a shortage of food. Being inside the earth, or hiding under the rocks, they react quickly to the movement that occurs on the surface. And thanks to a quick reaction to grab the intended "lunch" is not difficult.

What do legless lizards eat?

"The legless person" are predators. Their diet is rich in various larvae of insects, earthworms, arachnids and invertebrates of other detachments.

Offspring

Legless lizards bring about 4 small cubs per egg production. The ability to bear offspring occurs in them in 2.5 - 3 years, at the age of complete sexual readiness.

Evolutionary and biological development of the species

The most ancient species of lizards found in India was Indiana Tikiguania Estesi. Her age at the time of detection was almost 220,000,000 years. Scientists came to the conclusion that the remains of the lizard can be attributed to the 3-4 period of development of the late type. The place where this species was first found is considered a historical artifact formed by the natural combination of late soil layers.

Legless lizards of late periods of phylogeny were not found. Only large individuals could survive in historical development.

Types of legless lizards

Lizards, as well as snakes, belong to the well-known zoology of the scientific class - "reptiles". However, their pronounced external similarity does not at all indicate the identity of nature. First of all, snakes, as a rule, have the ability to produce poison. In lizards it is often absent, except for rare species of large representatives. The tremendous variety of reptiles poses difficult tasks for science. However, over time, experts still cope with them.

One existing genus includes two main types:
1. California legless lizard.
2. The Geronim's legless lizard.

In connection with the indistinguishable at times similarity to dangerous snakes, these species of lizards are severely affected. People, not understanding the nature of reptiles, kill them without much pity.

The California lizard has a body length of about 20-25 cm. The color of the body is usually slightly brown or greenish-smoky. On the back and in the sides there are dark narrow lines.

In the forest belt of the European zone of the Russian Federation, including in the nature of the Caucasus, a legless lizard is a pedestrian (medynka). In the southern part of the country there is a legless yellow-belted lizard (capercaillie). The two above-mentioned reptiles have no limbs. Movement on the surface of the earth is due to the ability of the body to wriggle. The trunk and head are connected firmly, the interception in the neck is completely absent.

A legless lizard, the spindle larva uses insect larvae, earthworms and small mollusks. Due to sharp teeth and rigid jaw construction, it reliably clings and holds prey, eating it slowly at the same time. Any mollusk spindle can always get out of the shelter, however far away it hides. Lizard carefully crawls into the shell, gradually eating prey from the inside, from beginning to end.

Zheltopuzik is one of the largest representatives of legless.

Another lizard that does not have legs refers to a genus called "sepsophis". This species was discovered as far back as the 70s of the 19th century in one of the states of India.

How to distinguish a lizard from a snake?

Existing lizards in the world, devoid of legs, cause people a lot of doubts, which are often treated incorrectly. Historical stories of religious origin say that once all snakes had legs, but for their deeds on Earth they were doomed to an eternal curse that made them crawl and grovel. According to this myth, it was then that the snakes lost their legs forever. The most interesting is that most evolutionary biologists agree to some extent with the opinion that the reptile-snake's legs really did exist. Only the loss of limbs, in their opinion, is, first of all, a fact caused by the evolutionary movement of the process of natural selection. As a result, being without legs has become a great virtue that helps to successfully survive in nature for a long time. For example, vipers do not have extremities at all, but in simple types of snakes in the pelvic region you can see small processes with small claws, outwardly reminiscent of underdeveloped legs.

In addition to the above, I would like to determine the criteria by which it is easy to distinguish a lizard that does not have legs from a snake:

1. The mobility of the eyelids. The snake's eyelids are in a static state, they are dynamic in lizards.
2. Neck belt. In the lizard, the place of narrowing is almost impossible to determine, while in the snake it can be seen with the naked eye.

Please note that despite the ease of identifying the genus, nevertheless to take in the hands of reptiles of unknown to you kind does not follow. Own safety and excessive caution often saves from going to the hospital.