| Ophisaurus ventralis | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Autarchoglossa |
| Family: | Anguidae |
| Genus: | Ophisaurus |
| Species: | O. ventralis |
| Binomial name | |
| Ophisaurus ventralis (Linnaeus, 1766) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Ophisaurus ventralis is a legless lizard species found in the southeastern United States. No subspecies are currently recognized.[1]
Contents |
Adults grow to 46-108.3 cm in length, although the head-body length is only 30.5 cm at most. There are 98 or more scales along the lateral groove. In this species, no dark longitudinal stripes are present below the lateral groove or under the tail, and there is no distinct middorsal stripe. The neck is marked with a series of mostly vertical, or highly irregular, white marks. White markings on posterior corners of scales. Dorsally, older specimens have a pattern consisting of numerous longitudinal dark lines or dashes. Occasionally, similar parallel lines cover the entire middorsal area. Older adults may be greenish above and yellow below; this is the only Ophisaurus species that may have a greenish appearance. Juveniles are khaki-colored and usually have two dark stripes that run down the back.[2]
From North Carolina to south Florida and west to Louisiana. Isolated records exist of its occurrence in Oklahoma and Missouri.[2]
Prefers wet meadows, grasslands and pine flatwoods. In southern Florida, it is also found in tropical hardwood hammocks.[2]
They eat a range of insects, such as grasshoppers, crickets and beetles, and will also consume spiders, small mice, snails, and the eggs of other reptiles and ground-nesting birds. Unlike snakes, glass lizards do not have flexible jaws, and this limits the size of prey items they can consume. They forage both above ground and underground in burrows.