Pygopodidae, commonly known assnake-lizards, orflap-footed lizards, are afamily oflegless lizards with reduced or absent limbs, and are a type ofgecko.[2] The 47species are placed in twosubfamilies and eightgenera. They have unusually long, slender bodies, giving them a strong resemblance tosnakes. Like snakes and most geckos, they have no eyelids, but unlike snakes, they have external ear holes and flat, unforked tongues.[3] They are native toAustralia andNew Guinea.[4]
Pygopodids have no fore limbs at all, but they do possessvestigial hind limbs in the form of small, flattened flaps.[3] These may have some role in courtship anddefensive behaviour, and may even aid in locomotion through vegetation. Some species areinsectivorous burrowing animals, but others are adapted to moving through densespinifex or other vegetation.
Legless lizards are often killed due to their similar appearance to snakes.[6] 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 paired series.
Unbroken tails in legless lizards are much longer than the body, whereas snake bodies are longer than their tails.
^abPatchell, Frederick; Richard Shine (February 1986). "Food habits and reproductive biology of the Australian legless lizards (Pygopodidae)".Copeia.1986 (1):30–39.doi:10.2307/1444884.JSTOR1444884.
^abcdeWilson, Steve (2003).A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia. New Holland: Reed.
^abWilson, Steve (2005).A Field Guide to Reptiles of Queensland. Australia: New Holland.
^Hoser, Raymond (1989).Australian Reptiles and Frogs. Pierson & Co.
Boulenger GA (1884). "Synopsis of the Families of existing Lacertilia".Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Fifth Series14: 117–122. (Pygopodidae, new family, p. 119).
Goin CJ, Goin OB,Zug GR (1978).Introduction to Herpetology, Third Edition. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman. xi + 378 pp.ISBN0-7167-0020-4. (Family Pygopodidae, pp. 285–286).
Kluge AG (1974). "A taxonomic revision of the lizard family Pygopodidae".Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan (147): 1–221.
