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Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Skinks are characterized by their smaller legs in comparison to typical lizards and are found in ...
This skink superficially looks like a snake except for the presence of two pairs of tiny, three-toed limbs. It has a small head and thick neck and grows to a length of about 43 cm (17 in). It is smooth and glossy, with a silvery or bronze colour with about ten slender longitudinal dark lines running along the body.
Even tiny birds like robins are a threat. Larger lizards and snakes will sometimes try to eat it as well. Like many other skinks, its tail will drop if grasped roughly. The disconnected tail will twitch vigorously for a while, capturing the attention of the predator while the lizard makes its escape.
A number of external characteristics can be used to distinguish legless lizards (including the hooded scaly-foot) from snakes: [8] [6] [7] Flap-footed lizards have vestigial hind limbs. Legless lizards have broad, fleshy tongues, dissimilar from the forked tongues of snakes. Most legless lizards have external ears. Ventral scales are in a ...
Burton's legless lizard (Lialis burtonis) is a species of lizard in the family Pygopodidae. The species lacks forelegs and has only rudimentary hind legs. [2] Pygopodid lizards are also referred to as "legless lizards", [3] "flap-footed lizards" [4] and "snake-lizards". [5] This species is native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. [6]
Snakes evolved from lizards, Beane said, because over time, some lizards adopted a lifestyle that didn’t require legs. Similarly, there are snakes with tiny limbs that they hardly ever use.
Some lineages (known as "legless lizards") have secondarily lost their legs, and have long snake-like bodies. Some lizards, such as the forest-dwelling Draco , are able to glide. They are often territorial , the males fighting off other males and signalling, often with bright colours, to attract mates and to intimidate rivals.
This skink superficially looks like a snake except for the possession of tiny limbs with three-toed feet, the middle toe of the hind foot being longer than the other two, a fact that differentiates it from the Western three-toed skink (Chalcides striatus). It has a small head and thick neck and grows to a length of about 48 cm (19 in), more ...