The Mexican blind lizard (''Anelytropsis papillosus'') is a species of legless lizard in the family

Dibamidae 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 ...

, and the only species in the genus ''Anelytropsis''. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to Mexico. They look like

Amphisbaenia Amphisbaenia (called amphisbaenians or worm lizards) is a group of usually legless squamates, comprising over 200 extant species. Amphisbaenians are characterized by their long bodies, the reduction or loss of the limbs, and rudimentary eyes. As ...

, but are in fact, only distantly related.

Etymology

Although early authors did not discuss the etymology, the generic name, ''Anelytropsis'', is presumed to be based on the Greek words: ''ana'' = up opon; ''elytron'' = shield; ''ops'' = eye, in reference to the eyes which are concealed by ocular scales. The trivial name or specific epithet, ''papillosus'', is Latin and refers to the minute papillae present on the scales in the anterior areas of the mouth and nose (

rostral scale The rostral scale, or rostral, in snakes and other scaled reptiles is the median plate on the tip of the snout that borders the mouth opening. Wright AH, Wright AA (1957). ''Handbook of Snakes of the United States and Canada''. Ithaca and London: ...

, first

labial scale The labial scales are the scales of snakes and other scaled reptiles that border the mouth opening. These do not include the median scales on the upper and lower jawsWright AH, Wright AA. 1957. Handbook of Snakes. Comstock Publishing Associates ( ...

, and loreal).Campbell, Howard W. 1974. ''Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles: Anelytropsis, A. papillosus.'' Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles. 156:1–2.

Description

The Mexican blind lizard is a limbless lizard, adapted for burrowing. The head is discernible from the cylindrical body by only a slightly greater width. There are no ear openings and each eye is entirely concealed under a single ocular plate. There are three large plates on the top of the head. The scales on the body are "scinciod", smooth with rounded edges, and may occur in even or odd numbered rows. It is a small species, ranging 20 - 50 cm. in total length. The tail is about one fourth of the total length of the lizard. Anelytropsis are brownish to flesh-colored, with some individuals exhibiting patches of pale scales producing a faint piebald appearance.Cope, E. D. 1885. ''A Contribution to the Herpetology of Mexico.'' Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 22: 380-381

Distribution

''Anelytropsis papillosus'' is

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. It is known from northeastern regions of the country at elevations from 300 to 2300 meters, including southern

Tamaulipas Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...

, eastern

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí), is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and i ...

, northern

Hidalgo Hidalgo may refer to: People * Hidalgo (nobility), members of the Spanish nobility * Hidalgo (surname) Places Mexico * Hidalgo (state), in central Mexico * Hidalgo, Coahuila, a town in the north Mexican state of Coahuila * Hidalgo, Nuevo Le� ...

and

Querétaro Querétaro (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Querétaro ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Querétaro, links=no; Otomi language, Otomi: ''Hyodi Ndämxei''), is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. I ...

, northern and central

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

, and extreme northern

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

. Considering the fact that several confirmed localities are extremely close to state boundaries, its rarity, and its fossorial and secretive behavior, some authors have speculated it should be anticipated in areas west of the confirmed distribution, specifically southern

Nuevo Leon Nuevo is the Spanish word for "new". It may refer to: * Nuevo, California, a town in the state of California * Nuevo (band), featuring singer and musician Peter Godwin * Nuevo (Bayamón), a settlement in Puerto Rico * "Nuevo", Spanish-language vers ...

, extreme eastern

Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...

, and eastern

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

.Valdez-Villavicencio, Jorge, Eli Garcia-Padilla, and Vicente Mata-Silva. 2016. ''Anelytropsis papillosus Cope, 1885 (Squamata: Dibamidae), an overlooked species in the state of Oaxaca, Mexico.'' Mesoamerican Herpetology 3(1):178-180 p.

Ecology and natural history

Anelytropsis papillosus, Mexican Blind Lizard, Tamaulipas

Very little information has been published on the ecology and natural history of this rare and enigmatic species. Hobart M. Smith reported finding two specimens in rotten logs near ant nests and noted they were "apparently" feeding on termites or ants in the logs.Smith, Hobart M. 1935. ''Miscellaneous notes on Mexican lizards.'' University of Kansas Science Bulletin 22: 146. Collector's accounts of finding two specimens in

, on separate occasions, stated that both lizards intensely bit the collectors fingers continuously for about three or four minutes when first handled. Then each lizard engaged in

thanatosis Apparent death, colloquially known as playing dead, feigning death, or playing possum, is a behavior in which animals take on the appearance of being dead. It is an immobile state most often triggered by a predatory attack and can be found in a ...

(death feigning behavior), at which time the lizards were relaxed but slightly rigid with their mouths half open, one for about two or three minutes, the other for a briefer length of time but subsequently, it suddenly lashed its body and autotomized about half of its tail.Torres-Cervantes, Ricardo J., Xóchitl Hernándex-Ibarra, and Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista. 2004. ''Anelytropsis papillosus (Mexican Blind Lizard), Death Feigning and Autotomy.'' Herpetological Review 35(4): 384 p.

Habitat

Locality records for the

fossorial A fossorial () animal is one adapted to digging which lives primarily, but not solely, underground. Some examples are badgers, naked mole-rats, clams, meerkats, and mole salamanders, as well as many beetles, wasps, and bees. Prehistoric eviden ...

''Anelytropsis papillosus'' do not correlate to surface vegetation communities or typical

biogeographic Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

patterns.Dixon, James R. and Julio A. Lemos Espinal. 2010. ''Amphibians and Reptiles of the State of Querétaro, Mexico.'' Published jointly by Texas A&M University, College Station, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and CONABIO. xiv, 428 pp. ages 211-212 It has been reported from a remarkably wide spectrum of habitats, from

Chihuahuan Desert The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lower P ...

scrub flats on the

Mexican plateau The Central Mexican Plateau, also known as the Mexican Altiplano ( es, Altiplanicie Mexicana), is a large arid-to-semiarid plateau that occupies much of northern and central Mexico. Averaging above sea level, it extends from the US-Mexico border ...

, to

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

in the

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that f ...

(

El Cielo Biosphere Reserve The El Cielo Biosphere Reserve (''Reserva de la Biosfera El Cielo'' in Spanish) is located in the Sierra Madre Oriental in the southern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas near the town of Gómez Farias. The reserve protects the northernmost ...

), and

tropical deciduous forest The tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forest is a habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature and is located at tropical and subtropical latitudes. Though these forests occur in climates that are warm year-round, and may receive ...

on the

coastal plain A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Coa ...

.Farr, William L., Pablo A. Lavin-Murcio, and David Lazcano. 2007. ''New distributional records for amphibian and reptiles from the state of Tamaulipas, México.'' Herpetological Review 38(2): 230.Garcia-Padilla, Elí, and William L. Farr. 2010. ''Anelytropsis papillosus (Mexican Blind Lizard) México: Tamaulipas.'' Herpetological Review 41(4); 511 Pine -oak forest, tropical thorn forest, and semiarid deciduous vegetation have also been identified as collecting sites.Axtell, Ralph W. 1958. ''A northward range extension for the lizard Anelytropsis papillosis, with some notes on the distribution and habits of several other Mexican lizards.'' Herpetologica 14(4): 189–191. It has been found under boulders, rocks, and stones, under fallen logs, burrowing in rotten logs, and under dead yucca trees.Mendoza-Quijano, Fernando, Efrín Hernández Garcia, and Walter Schmidt Ballardo. 1993. ''Anelytropsis papillosus (Mexican Blind Lizard) México: Hidalgo.'' Herpetological Review 24(2): 66 p. The distribution of the species falls mostly within the Mexican ecoregions of the tropical

Veracruz moist forests The Veracruz moist forests ( es, Bosques húmedos de Veracruz) is a tropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregion in eastern Mexico. Geography The Veracruz moist forests cover an area of , occupying a portion of Mexico's Gulf Coastal Plain between ...

, the

Sierra Madre Oriental pine–oak forests The Sierra Madre Oriental pine–oak forests are a Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of northeastern and Central Mexico, extending into the state of Texas in the United States. Setting The Sierra Madre Oriental pine–oak forests ar ...

, and southwestern portions of the

Meseta Central matorral The Meseta Central matorral is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion in north-central Mexico. Geography The Meseta Central matorral occupies the central portion of the Mexican Plateau. It is bounded on the east by the Sierra Madre Oriental. ...

Conservation status

The Mexican Federal Government list ''Anelytropsis papillosus'' as a threatened species and it is protected by Mexican law.SEMARNAT (Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales). 2019. Norma Official Mexicana
NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2019, protección ambiental-especies nativas de México de flora y fauna silvestre-categorías de riesgo y especificaciones para su inclusión, exclusión o cambio-lista de especies en riesgo.
Diario Oficial de la Federación. México, D.F., Mexico. In a conservation evaluation using Environmental Vulnerability Scores (EVS) ow, 3–9; medium, 10–13; high, 14–20 ''Anelytropsis papillosus'' was rated 10, a species of medium vulnerability.Wilson, Larry D., Vicente Mata-Silva, and Jerry D. Johnson. 2013. ''A conservation reassessment of the reptiles of Mexico based on the EVS measure.'' Special Mexico Issue. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 7(1): 1–47. Conversely, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species ranked ''Anelytropsis papillosus'' as a species of least concern.

References

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q19938963 Dibamidae Lizard genera Endemic reptiles of Mexico Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope Reptiles described in 1885 Fauna of the Sierra Madre Oriental