legless lizards
Serpentine but scaled
Legless lizards are reptiles that resemble snakes but are actually lizards.
Unlike snakes, they have eyelids, external ear openings, and can shed their tails.
Several unrelated lizard families have independently evolved leglessness: The glass lizard in my garden looks like a snake but it's actually a legless lizard.
They're often mistaken for snakes, but their movement and head shape differ.
- reptileCold-blooded scaled vertebrate
- elongateTo make longer
- limblessWithout arms or legs
- leglessHaving no limbs
- fossorial behaviorAdapted for digging underground
serpentine · harmless · pet trade · morphology · tails · evolutionary biology · herpetology · taxonomy · oviparous · convergent evolution · eyelids · leaf litter · forest floor · regeneration · coastal dunes · nocturnal hunters · reproductive strategy · ecologies
- legless creaturessnakes, serpents, worms, slugs, cobras
- lizardsgecko, geckos, chameleon, chameleons, iguana
- reptile traitsscaly, cold-blooded, slithering, forked tongue, shedding skin
- monitor lizardsmonitors, Komodo, goanna