Amphisbaenidae

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Late Cretaceous–present, {{Fossil range|66.043|0}}

| image = Amphisbaena alba03.jpg

| image_caption = Amphisbaena alba

| taxon = Amphisbaenidae

| authority = Gray, 1865

| subdivision_ranks = Genera

| subdivision =

12 extant, see text

}}

The Amphisbaenidae (common name: worm lizards) are a family of amphisbaenians, a group of limbless reptiles. There are 12 genera, containing 183 species.

Geographic range

Amphisbaenids occur in South America, some Caribbean islands, Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Taxonomy

One deep-branching and somewhat aberrant genus, Blanus, is native to Europe, and may represent a distinct family.{{cite book |editor=Cogger HG |editor-link=Harold Cogger |editor2=Zweifel RG |editor2-link=Richard G. Zweifel |author= Gans C|year=1998|title=Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians|publisher= Academic Press|location=San Diego|isbn= 978-0-12-178560-4|page= 216|author-link=Carl Gans}} More recent sources indeed place it in the family Blanidae.

Description

Members of the family Amphisbaenidae are limbless, burrowing reptiles with carnivorous diets. As in other amphisbaenians, the body bears rings of scales, which gives amphisbaenids a worm-like appearance. The head is massively constructed and used for burrowing, with powerful jaws and large, recurved teeth used for seizing prey. Some species have a spade-like head, while others have a narrow keel on the head, and still others have a rounded skull. The eyes are highly reduced, while the ear bone, or stapes in the middle ear, is large and massive. Together with another bone, the extracollumella, the stapes detects vibrations caused by prey items, allowing amphisbaenids to hunt for invertebrates under ground. In this respect, it is an example of convergent evolution to the burrowing mammalian family Chrysochloridae (golden moles), in which the malleus in the middle ear is greatly enlarged.{{Cite journal|last=Mason|first=Matthew J.|date=2003-08-01|title=Morphology of the middle ear of golden moles (Chrysochloridae)|journal=Journal of Zoology|language=en|volume=260|issue=4|pages=391–403|doi=10.1017/S095283690300387X|issn=1469-7998}}{{Cite journal|last=Mason|first=Matthew J.|last2=Narins|first2=Peter M.|date=2001-01-01|title=Seismic Signal Use by Fossorial Mammals|jstor=3884562|journal=American Zoologist|volume=41|issue=5|pages=1171–1184|doi=10.1093/icb/41.5.1171|doi-access=free}}

Extant genera

File:Soutpansberg Wormlizard (Chirindia langi subsp. occidentalis).JPG]]

183 extant species are in the family, grouped into 12 genera:

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Amphisbaena Linnaeus, 1758
Ancylocranium Parker, 1942
Baikia Gray, 1865
Chirindia Boulenger, 1907
Cynisca A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1839
Dalophia Gray, 1865
Geocalamus Günther, 1880
Leposternon Wagler, 1824Ribeiro, Síria; Vaz-Silva, Wilian; Santos, Alfredo P., Jr. (2008). "New pored Leposternon (Squamata, Amphisbaenia) from Brazilian Cerrado". Zootaxa 1930: 18-38. ("Leposternon Wagler, 1824", p. 18).
Loveridgea Tornier, 1899
Mesobaena Mertens, 1925
Monopeltis A. Smith, 1848
Zygaspis Cope, 1885

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Fossil genera

A number of extinct taxa are known from the fossil record:

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References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite web |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=250300 |title=Amphisbaenidae Gray 1865 |work=Paleobiology Database |publisher=Fossilworks |access-date=17 December 2021}}

{{NRDB family|family=Amphisbaenidae |date=1 February |year=2017}}

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