Lialis is a genus of legless lizards in the family Pygopodidae. The genus is native to Australia and New Guinea.
Lialis | |
---|---|
Burton's legless lizard (Lialis burtonis) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Family: | Pygopodidae |
Genus: | Lialis Gray, 1835 |
Geographic range of the genus Lialis in Australia and New Guinea. |
Diet
editLizards in the genus Lialis specialize in eating skinks.[1] They have hinged teeth and kinetic skull joints which flex allowing them to swallow their prey whole.[1]
Reproduction
editSpecies
editThe following two species are recognized as being valid.[2]
- Lialis burtonis Gray, 1835
- Lialis jicari Boulenger, 1903
References
editFurther reading
edit- Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume I. ... Pygopodidæ .... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 436 pp. + Plates I-XXXII. (Genus Lialis, p. 246).
- Gray JE (1835). "Characters of a New Genus of Reptiles (Lialis) from New South Wales". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1834: 134–135. (Lialis, new genus, p. 134). (in Latin and English).