When lizards lost their legs, they became snakes, right? So why are glass lizards considered lizards? If they are lizards that lost legs, why arent they snakes? They are pretty creepy looking though!
And I just now realised why I should have posted on the "general snake forum". Old habits die hard.
John
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Lizard/snake question
Tormato
Jun 07, 2003 02:56 AM
Replies (2)
meretseger
Jun 07, 2003 05:21 AM
There's more to a snake than being a lizard without legs. Snakes are all derived from one certain lizard ancestor that lost its legs. But lizards have lost their legs many times, and these sepearte lineages just aren't snakes. There are about 20 lineages of lizards that have reduced or lost legs and also consider amphisbaenians, which are burrowing legless reptiles that evovled from lizards, but aren't snakes.
Some characteristics of snakes are:
-No eyelids
- No external ears
- Expandable jaws
- Those lovely musk glands
- The whole forked tongue thing
- Various anatomical features that I can't remember
- Oh yeah, no legs
All of these things are present in various lizards, but get them all together, and you pretty much have a snake.
Also, legless lizards tend to have longer tails as a percentage of their body length than snakes do, and they have that weak vertabrae spot where their tail can break off, and no snake has that.
elrojo
Jun 11, 2003 02:02 PM
Most importantly... the "ear hole" on a glass lizard is the giveaway in the field. No snake has 'em.
