REPTILIA: SQUAMATA: ANNIELLIDAE: Anniella

Anniella geronimensis Shaw, 1940

Baja legless lizard

Photos & text by Dr. Robert Sprackland.

Range: Restricted to sandy areas in Baja California, Mexico.

Diagnosis: A very thin, limbless lizard with a bronzy back, several thin black lateral and dorsal lines, and an acutely pointed snout.

Description: 

Natural History: Very little is known about this species save that it prefers much higher temperatures than its northern relatives. Specimens have been found active in sands as warm as 113° F.

Reproduction:

Taxonomy & Relationships:

Variation:

Additional Comments:

Type Specimen:

 Literature: Click on book to order a copy

Bury, R. Bruce. 1985. Status report: Anniella pulchra nigra Fischer, black legless lizard (Anniellidae: Sauria) in central California. Denver Wildlife Research Center.

Miller, Charles. 1944. Ecological relations and adaptations of the limbless lizards of the genus Anniella. Ecological Monographs 14(3): 271-289.