Common Names
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Common Names in English:
Burton's Legless Lizard, Burton's Snake Lizard, Burton's Snake-Lizard, Burton's Snake-Lizard, Burton's Legless Lizard
Common Names in German:
Burtons Spitzkopf-Flossenfu?, Burtons Spitzkopf-Flossenfuß
Description
Physical Description
Species Lialis burtonis
These robust , legless, elongated lizards are up to two feet in length . Long, sharp, wedge-shaped snouts are covered with small scales . Mouths have numerous large, backward-pointing, sharp teeth. Tympanums (ear openings) are visible and eye pupils are vertically elliptical . Color and markings are extremely varied - most are striped, some are not. Yellowish, reddish, gray, black, white or brown. Special scales which aide in reproduction are about 5mm long. Their tongues are broad and fleshy , unlike snakes' tongues.
Habitat
These lizards thrive in most habitats from desert sand ridges and flats to woodlands, dry forest and margins of rain forests.
Biology
Diet
Burton's snake lizards are active and alert predators that feed on arthropods and small lizards, especially skinks. They also hunt geckos, adamids and small snakes. They normally grip their prey in the chest region, hold them until they suffocate, then swallow them head first.
Reproduction
Burton's snake lizards, like others in the family Pygopodidae, are oviparous (egg-layers). The eggs are rather elongated, and usually only two or three in each clutch .
Behavior
Ground-dwellers, they seek shelter beneath rocks, logs or leaf-litter and in hummock grasses and abandoned burrows. They are active during daylight hours and sometimes at night. When at rest, they adopt a distinctive posture with head and neck held at approximately 45 degrees to the ground . They are not venomous .
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Animalia
()
- Linnaeus, 1758
- animals
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
()
- (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983
- Branch:
Deuterostomia
()
- Grobben, 1908
- Infrakingdom:
Chordonia
()
- (Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Phylum:
Chordata
()
- Bateson, 1885
- Chordates
- Subphylum:
Vertebrata
()
- Cuvier, 1812
- Vertebrates
- Infraphylum:
Gnathostomata
()
- Auct.
- Jawed Vertebrates
- Superclass:
Tetrapoda
()
- Goodrich, 1930
- Class:
Reptilia
()
- Reptiles
- Subclass:
Diapsida
()
- Infraclass:
Lepidosauromorpha
()
- Superorder:
Lepidosauria
()
-
- Order:
Squamata
()
- Suborder:
Lacertilia
()
- Infraorder:
Gekkota
()
- Family:
Pygopodidae
()
- Subfamily:
Lialisinae
()
- Subfamily:
Lialisinae
(
- Family:
Pygopodidae
(
- Infraorder:
Gekkota
(
- Suborder:
Lacertilia
(
- Order:
Squamata
(
- Superorder:
Lepidosauria
(
- Infraclass:
Lepidosauromorpha
(
- Subclass:
Diapsida
(
- Class:
Reptilia
(
- Superclass:
Tetrapoda
(
- Infraphylum:
Gnathostomata
(
- Subphylum:
Vertebrata
(
- Phylum:
Chordata
(
- Infrakingdom:
Chordonia
(
- Branch:
Deuterostomia
(
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
(
- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
Unambiguous Synonyms
- Lialis bicatenata Gray 1842
- Lialis burtoni [sic] — De Rooij 1915: 63
- Lialis burtoni De Rooij 1915: 63
- Lialis burtonii — Boulenger 1885: 247
- Lialis burtonii DumÉril & Bibron 1839: 831
- Lialis burtonis — Cogger 2000: 294
- Lialis burtonis — RÖsler 1995: 88
- Lialis leptorhyncha Peters 1873: 605
- Lialis punctulata Gray 1842
- Lialis punctulata var. concolor Peters 1873: 606
Notes
Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: Uetz P.
Similar Species
Members of the genus Lialis
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 13 species and subspecies in this genus:
L. bicatenata · L. burtoni · L. burtonis (Burton's Legless Lizard) · L. childreni · L. clarki · L. fuscus · L. jicari (Papua Snake Lizard) · L. jicori · L. leptorhyncha · L. leptoryncha · L. megapogon · L. punctulata · L. punctulata var. concolor Peters, 1873
More Info
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- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Boulenger (1885) Catalogue of the Lizards Vol. I.
- Boulenger, G. A. (1885): Catalogue of Lizards in the collection of the British Museum. - In: Catalogue of Lizards in the collection of the British Museum, edition II, pp. [1-497]
- Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, ENG url p. 255, p. 319.
- Cogger (2000) Rept. Amph. of Australia, 6th ed.
- de Rooij (1915) Rept. Indo-Australian Archipelago. I.
- Duméril & Bibron (1839) Erpétologie Générale, Vol.5.
- Escoriza (2005) Reptilia (GB) (41): 52-57
- Gorman (1970) Experientia 26: 206-207
- Gray (1834) Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London for the year 1834, pp. 134—135.
- Gray (1842) Zoological Miscellany, London: Treuttel, Würtz & Co, pp. 51—57.
- Kinghorn (1924) Records of the Australian Museum 14 (3): 184-188
- Kinghorn (1926) Records of the Australian Museum 15 (1): 40-64
- Peters et al. (1873) Monatsber. königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin. 1873 (October): 603-618
- Röll et al. (2002) Salamandra 38 (2): 73-84
- Rösler (1995) Geckos der Welt.
- Schlüter (2004) Reptilia 9 (3): 51-54
- Switak (2006) Natur und Tier Verlag (Münster), 364 pp.
- The Great Basin naturalist. Provo, Utah, M.L. Bean Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University. ENG url p. 77, p. 8.
Notes
Contributors
- Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 12, 2006.
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 27, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 5 providers.
- Honolulu Zoo
- Uetz, Peter. The Reptile Database
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 27, 2008:
- Carnegie Museums: Amphibians and Reptiles
- Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History: Vertebrate specimens
- Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
- OZCAM (Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums) Provider: Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums
- Yale University Peabody Museum: Peabody Herp Collection DiGIR provider Service
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2541365
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Rep-18286
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 179935
