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Anguis fragilis

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	Anguis fragilis
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	Topics Anguis fragilis Topic Home *Anguis fragilis* (the slow worm, slow-worm, slowworm, blindworm or blind worm) is a limbless reptileFacts About Reptile Reptiles are tetrapods and amniotes, animals whose embryos are surrounded by an amniotic membrane.... native to EurasiaEurasia Eurasia is the landmass composed of Europe and Asia.... . Slow-worms are semifossorial lizards spending much of the time burrowing through the soil. The skin of the varieties of slow-worm is smooth with scales that do not overlap one another. Like many other lizards, slow-worms autotomizeAutotomy Autotomy or self amputation is the act whereby an animal severs one of its own appendages, usually as a self-defense m... , meaning that they have the ability to shed their tails in order to escape predators. The tail regrows, but seldom to its former length. These reptiles are active during the day (diurnal) and occasionally bask in the sun, but are more often found hiding beneath rocks and logs. They are carnivorousCarnivore A carnivore , meaning 'meat eater' , is an animal that eats a diet consisting mainly of meat, whether it comes from live ani... and, because they feed on slugSlug Slugs are gastropod molluscs without shells or with very small internal shells, in contrast to snails, which have a prominen... s and wormWorm A worm is an elongated soft-bodied invertebrate animal.... s, they can often be found in long grassGrass Grass generally describes a monocotyledonous green plant in the family Poaceae, botanically regarded as true grasses.... and other damp environments. The females give birth to live young. In the days leading up to birth the female can often be seen basking in the sun on a warm road. They are common in gardens and can be encouraged to enter and help remove pest insects by placing black plastic or a piece of tin on the ground. On warm days one or more slow worms will often be found underneath these collectors of heat. One of the biggest causes of mortality in slow worms in suburban areas is the domestic cat, from which it has no defense. Although these lizards are often mistaken for snakes, there are a number of features that differentiate them from snakes. The most important is they have small eyes with eyelidEyelid An eyelid is a thin fold of skin and muscle that covers and protects an eye.... s that blink like lizards. This is a feature that is not found in snakes. They also have visible earEar The ear is the sense organ that detects sound.... s like lizards do, which snakes do not have. They also have a notched tongue rather than the forked tongue of a snake. They shed their skin in patches like other lizards, rather than the whole skin as most snakes do. Also, the pattern of their ventral scalesVentral scales In snakes, the ventral scales, or gastrosteges, are the enlarged scales that extend down the underside of the body from the ... is totally different from that of snakes. Adult slow-worms grow to be about 50 cmCentimetre A centimetre is a unit of length that is equal to one hundreth of a metre, the current SI base unit of length.... long and are known for their exceptionally long life; it has been said that a slow-worm is the longest living lizard, living about thirty years in the wild and up to fifty-four years in captivity (this record is held by a male slow worm that lived at the Copenhagen ZooCopenhagen Zoo Copenhagen Zoo is one of the oldest zoos in Europe.... from 1892 to 1946) . The female often has a stripe along the spine and dark sides while the male may have blue spots. Juveniles of both sexes are gold with a dark brown belly and sides with a dark stripe along the spine. Protected species in the UK In the United KingdomUnited Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country and sovereign state that lies off the northwest coast... the slow worm has been granted protected statusConservation status The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the p... , alongside all other native British reptileFacts About Reptile Reptiles are tetrapods and amniotes, animals whose embryos are surrounded by an amniotic membrane.... species. The slow worm has been decreasing in numbers, and under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Overview The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom which aims to protect the wildlife and c... it is illegal to intentionally kill, injure, sell or advertise to sell them, although there are currently no laws protecting their habitat. Taxonomy Anguis fragilis LinnaeusCarolus Linnaeus Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linn, , was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist... , 1758 Anguis fragilis fragilis LinnaeusCarolus Linnaeus Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linn, , was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist... , 1758 Anguis fragilis colchicus The subspecies Anguis fragilis fragilis is found all over Europe, while Anguis fragilis colchicus is found in south-eastern Europe, the CaucasusCaucasus The Caucasus or Caucasia is a region in Eurasia bordered on the south by Turkey and Iran in Asia, on the west by the B... and IranIran 'Throughout history, Iran has been of great geostrategic importance because of its central location in Eurasia.... . See also OphisaurusGlass lizard The Glass Lizards or glass snakes, genus *Ophisaurus*, are a group of reptiles that resemble snakes, but are a...