European Legless Lizard (Scheltopusik)
Pseudopus apodus (Pallas, 1775)
Range: Southern Europe, Middle East, Central Asia
Habitat: Short Grasslands, Open Woodland, Dry Rocky Hillsides
Diet: Snails and Slugs, Insects and other Arthropods, Small Vertebrates, Eggs
Social Grouping: Primarily solitary, may congregate
Reproduction: Breed between June and August. 10 weeks after mating, female will lay about 6-10 eggs, which she hides in a crevice or under a rock and guards during incubation. The young hatch after 45-55 days, about 15 centimeters long each. Female abandons young after they hatch. Sexually mature at 2-3 years old.
Lifespan: Average 10-15 Years in Wild, Up to 50 Years
Conservation Status: IUCN Least Concern
- Largest of the legless-lizards. Reaches a maximum length of 135 centimeters. The body is made up of ring-like segments which make the animal resemble a giant earthworm, but having a distinctive fold of skin down the length of the body. The head is typically lizard-like, differing from that of a snake by having eyelids and ear openings. A pair of tiny vestigial legs (about 0.2 centimeters long) are by the cloaca, about halfway down the length of the body
- Coloration is tan, usually paler towards the head. Juveniles have more vivid marks then adults
- If threatened by a predator, it will hiss, bite, or screte musk. If seized, it may drop off a section of its tail, which will break into pieces to distract a predator and earning the species its nickname of "glass lizard" (in European folklore, the lizard can reputedly break into pieces and then reassemble itself). A dropped tail will be regrown, but slowly.
- Latin name translates to "Fake-Legged Without Legs." The alternative common name, "Scheltopusik," comes from the Russian for "Yellow-Bellied"
- Two subspecies - the eastern, which has a narrower head, and the western (P. . thracius), which has a broader one
- Not endangered, relatively common over widespread range. Tolerant of some habitat disturbance and may be found in gardens. Sometimes killed after being misidentified as a snake
- Sometimes used in movies as a "stunt-double" for snakes - most notably in the "snake pit| in the Indiana Jones movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark.
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