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Full-Text Articles in Population Biology
Do Worm Lizards Occur In Nebraska?, Louis A. Somma
Do Worm Lizards Occur In Nebraska?, Louis A. Somma
Papers in Herpetology
Amphisbaenids, or worm lizards, are a small enigmatic suborder of reptiles (containing 4 families; ca. 140 species) within the order Squamata, which include~ the more speciose lizards and snakes (Gans 1986). The name amphisbaenia is derived from the mythical Amphisbaena (Topsell 1608; Aldrovandi 1640), a two-headed beast (one head at each end), whose fantastical description may have been based, in part, upon actual observations of living worm lizards (Druce 1910). While most are limbless and worm-like in appearance, members of the family Bipedidae (containing the single genus Bipes) have two forelimbs located close to the head. This trait, and …