Wormlizards: Amphisbaenidae - Physical Characteristics, Geographic Range, Diet, Behavior And Reproduction, White-bellied Wormlizard (amphisbaena Alba): Species Account - HABITAT, WORMLIZARDS AND PEOPLE, CONSERVATION STATUS
Wormlizards stay out of sight most of the time, either remaining in their burrows or beneath rocks or leaf litter on the ground. Some of them make themselves at home in the nests of ants or termites, possibly even laying their eggs or having their young there. They will come out on the surface after particularly heavy rains that flood their underground homes.
Wormlizards and people rarely run across one another.
None of these species is considered endangered or threatened.
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The members of this family, known simply as wormlizards, are long, thin, legless animals. Their scales are arranged in rings around the body with each ring separated from the next by a shallow groove. This ring and groove pattern makes them look much like earthworms, even though the worms lack scales. In some species of wormlizard, the head is round. In others, it may be shaped like a shovel, or i…
Wormlizards live in both the western and eastern hemispheres, including South America, Central America, the West Indies, Africa, Asia, and Europe. They tend to live in tropical areas or in spots with a slightly less warm, subtropical climate. …
Wild wormlizards eat mainly ants, termites, beetles, grubs (young beetles), caterpillars, and cockroaches. In one study, scientists looked inside the stomachs of wormlizards and found that some were filled with fungi. In another study, they found one wormlizard that had eaten a lizard, or at least its leg, and another that had swallowed a burrowing snake—whole. In captivity, wormlizards wil…
Wormlizards are fossorial (foss-OR-ee-ul), which means that stay underground most of the time. Depending on the shape of the head, they dig their tunnels in different ways. Those with a round head butt their heads straight into the dirt like a battering ram and move forward that way. Other species with heads shaped like shovels, scoop up dirt onto the top of the head and then press it into the roo…
Physical characteristics: Among the largest members of the family, the white-bellied wormlizard can grow to 33.4 inches (85 centimeters) long with a body that can reach up to 2 inches (25 centimeters) wide. Adults can, however, be much smaller, growing to only half that size. Of their total length, only 6 percent is tail. Like other wormlizards, their scales form rings around the body and give the…
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