Glass Lizard

Glass Lizard

16, See text.

The glass lizards or glass snakes, genus Ophisaurus, (from the Greek 'snake-lizard') are a group of reptiles that resemble snakes, but are actually lizards. Although most species have no legs, their head shape and the fact that they have movable eyelids and external ear openings identify them as lizards. A few species have very small stub-like legs near the rear vent. These are vestigial organs meaning they have evolved and they are no longer in use. These animals are also known as Glass Snakes or Jointed Snakes. They reach lengths of up to 4 feet (1.2 m), but approximately two-thirds of this is the tail. Glass lizards feed on insects, spiders, other small reptiles, and young rodents. Their diet is limited by their inability to unhinge their jaws. Some glass lizards give birth to live young but most lay eggs.

Their common name comes from the fact that they are easily broken: like many lizards, they have the ability to deter predation by dropping off part of the tail which can break into several pieces, like glass. The tail remains mobile, distracting the predator, while the lizard becomes motionless, allowing eventual escape. This serious loss of body mass requires a considerable effort to replace and can take up to years to do so. Despite this ability, the new tail is usually smaller in size than the original.

The greatest number of species in the genus are native to Asia, from India to China and the Indonesian islands. At least one species, the Moroccan glass lizard, comes from North Africa, and several species live in the south-eastern United States including the barrier islands off the Atlantic coast of Florida. They are also found in abundant numbers in Eastern North Carolina as far as 40 miles from Atlantic Ocean.