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Wild Herps - Worm Lizards
<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Overlock:400,700,400italic,700italic' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'> <link href='../wildherps.css' rel=stylesheet type='text/css'> <link rel="icon" type="image/x-icon" href="../favicon.ico" sizes="16x16 32x32"> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="../icon.png" sizes="152x152"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" sizes="152x152" href="../icon.png"> <title>Wild Herps - Worm Lizards</title> <meta name="viewport" content="width=740"> </head> <body> <div id="contentwithmargin"> <div id="content"> <div id="header"> <a id="logo" href='../index.html'><img id="logoeye" width="40" height="40" src="../images/misc/logoeye80x80.jpg"><span class="logostart">wild</span><span class="logoend">herps</span></a> <form id="google" method="GET" action="http://www.google.com/search"> <input name="q" size="20" type="search" maxlength="255" placeholder="Search wildherps" results="0"> <input type="hidden" name="domains" value="wildherps.com"> <input type="hidden" name="sitesearch" value="wildherps.com" checked> </form> <div id="headerlinks"> <a href="../about.html">About</a> <a href="../travels/index.html">Trips</a> <a href="../top10lists/index.html">Top 10 Lists</a> <a href="../references.html">References</a> <a href="../recent_changes.html">Recent Changes</a> <a href="mailto:john@wildherps.com?subject=Wild Herps feedback">Email Me</a> <div id="arrangementlinks"> <span id="indexesprompt">Sightings arranged by:</span> <span id="currentpage">Taxonomy</span> <a href="../indexes/locations.html">Location</a> <a href="../indexes/dateIndex.html">Date</a> <a href="../indexes/sciIndexA.html">Scientific Name</a> </div> </div> </div> <div id='breadcrumbs'> <a href='../index.html'>Home</a> </div> <div id='taxon_name'> <span class='sci_name'>Amphisbaenia</span> <span class='sci_English_name_separator'>—</span> <span class='English_name'>Worm Lizards</span> </div> Amphisbaenians, aka Worm Lizards, are not really lizards, and definitely not worms. They are a group of reptiles closely related to lizards and snakes, but classified in a suborder all their own. Most of them are legless denizens of the tropics. All of them spend almost all of their time burrowing underground, so they are hard to find. The USA is home to a single species: <i>Rhineura floridana</i>, the Florida Worm Lizard, which I have not seen. I have also not seen any of the others. <p> The coolest amphisbaenians are in the genus Bipes (endemic to Mexico) and have two tiny little front legs that look simply ridiculous on their long wormy bodies. Here's a picture of <i>Bipes biporus</i> taken by my friend Matt Cage and used with his permission. <div class="sighting_images"> <img src="../images/herps/standard/Matt_Cage_Bipes.jpg" srcset="../images/herps/standard/Matt_Cage_Bipes@2x.jpg 2x" width="600" height="400"> </div> </div> </div> </body> </html>