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.Pough ''et al.'' 1992. Herpetology: Third Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall:Pearson Education, Inc., 2002. It is the common name for the family

Pygopodidae Pygopodidae, commonly known as legless lizards, snake-lizards, or flap-footed lizards, is a family of squamates with reduced or absent limbs, and are a type of gecko. At least 35 species are placed in two subfamilies and eight genera. They hav ...

. 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 (while snakes have a long body and short tail). Many

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

of lizards have independently evolved limblessness or greatly reduced limbs (which are presumably non-functional in locomotion), including the following examples: *

Anguidae 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 ...

– 102 species, of which 17 are limbless and in the genera ''

Ophisaurus ''Ophisaurus'' (from the Greek 'snake-lizard') is a genus of superficially snake-like lizards in the family Anguidae. Known as joint snakes, glass snakes, or glass lizards, they are so-named because their tails are easily broken; like many liz ...

'', ''Pseudopus'' and '' Anguis'' from Eurasia and North America. *

Cordylidae Cordylidae is a family of small- to medium-sized lizards that occur in southern and eastern Africa. They are commonly known as girdled lizards, spinytail lizards, or girdle-tail lizards. Cordylidae is closely related to the family Gerrhosauridae ...

– an African family of 66 species, with one virtually legless genus ''

Chamaesaura The ''Chamaesaura'', also known as grass lizards, are a genus of legless lizards from southern and eastern Africa. The limbs are reduced to small spikes. Chamaesaura propel themselves like snakes, pushing against contact points in the environme ...

'', containing five species with hindlimbs reduced to small scaly protuberances. *

– all 44 species; they belong to the genera ''

Aprasia ''Aprasia'' is a genus of lizards in the family Pygopodidae. The genus is endemic to Australia. The species in the genus ''Aprasia'' are worm-like, burrowing lizards. At least four of the species are oviparous. Species The genus ''Aprasia'' c ...

'', ''

Delma ''Delma'' is a genus of lizards in the family Pygopodidae. The genus ''Delma'' contains 22 valid described species, all of which are endemic to Australia. Species Recognized species of ''Delma'' according to thReptile Database *''Delma australi ...

'', ''

Lialis ''Lialis'' is a genus of legless lizards in the family Pygopodidae. The genus is native to Australia and New Guinea. Diet Lizards in the genus ''Lialis'' specialize in eating skinks.Patchell F, Shine R (1986). "Feeding Mechanisms in Pygopodid L ...

'', '' Ophidiocephalus'', ''

Paradelma ''Paradelma orientalis'', commonly known as the Brigalow scaly-foot or Queensland snake-lizard, is a species of legless lizard in the family Pygopodidae. It is endemic to Australia and is the only species in the monotypic genus ''Paradelma''. Co ...

'', '' Pletholax'' and ''

Pygopus ''Pygopus'' is a genus belonging to the family of Australian legless lizards (Pygopodidae). Members of this genus are also commonly called scaly-foot. Species Within the genus ''Pygopus'' the following five species are recognized as being valid ...

''. All are endemic to Australia, except the two species of ''Lialis'', which also occur in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

, one of which is endemic to that island. Pygopodids are not strictly legless since, although they lack forelimbs, they possess hindlimbs that are greatly reduced to small digitless flaps, hence the often used common names of "flap-footed lizards" or "scaly-foot". The pygopodids are considered an advanced evolutionary clade of the Gekkota, which also contains six families of geckos. *

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 ...

– all 23 species in the family, which comprises the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

Mexican genus '' Anelytropsis'' and the Southeast Asian genus '' Dibamus''. All are limbless burrowers that are nearly or completely blind. * Anniellidae – comprising the single genus '' Anniella'', which contains six legless lizards that inhabit central / southern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

and

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, Mexico. *

Gymnophthalmidae Gymnophthalmidae is a family of lizards with at least 250 species, sometimes known commonly as spectacled lizards or microteiids. They are called "spectacled" because of their transparent lower eyelids, which allow them to still see with closed ...

– a large

neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

family containing many species with reduced limbs, the most extreme being the 23 species in the genus '' Bachia'', which escape by making sudden saltatory "figure-8" flicks with the body and tail. * Scincidae – commonly known as skinks, the largest lizard family with over 1500 species, of which many are limbless and nearly-limbless species, including (but not confined to) the genera '' Acontias'', '' Feylinia'', '' Melanoseps'', ''

Paracontias ''Paracontias'' is a genus of skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae. The genus is endemic to Madagascar. Taxonomy and systematics ''Paracontias'' is usually placed in the subfamily Scincinae, which seems to be paraphyletic however. Probably ...

'' and ''

Typhlosaurus ''Typhlosaurus'' is a genus of African lizards, one of a number of genera of limbless lizards in the skink family ( Scincidae). This group was recently revised with most species formerly attributed to ''Typhlosaurus'' now placed in ''Acontias''. ...

'' from Africa, ''Lerista'' from Australia, and some species in the genera '' Chalcides'' from southern Europe and North Africa, and '' Scelotes'' from southern Africa. * Amphisbaenia - comprising over 180 extant species, most of which are legless.

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References