Bipes (lizard)

Bipes
Bipes biporus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Reptilia
Order:Squamata
Clade:Amphisbaenia
Family:Bipedidae
Genus:Bipes
Latreille, 1801
Species

Bipes alvarezi [1]
Bipes biporus (Cope, 1894)
Bipes canaliculatus Latreille, 1801
Bipes tridactylus (Dugès, 1894)[2]

Bipes is a genus of amphisbaenians found only in Mexico, the sole living member of the family Bipedidae.[3] Commonly known as ajolotes, they are carnivorous, burrowing reptiles, but unlike other species of amphisbaenians, they possess two stubby forelimbs placed far forward on the body.[4] The shovel-like limbs are used to scrape away soil while burrowing, in a manner similar to a mole.[5] Evidence for their occurrence in the United States is reviewed by Somma (1993).

Further reading

  • Latreille, P.A. in Sonnini, C.S., and P.A. Latreiile. 1801. Histoire naturelle des reptiles, avec figures desinées d'après nature; Tome II. Premiere partie. Quadrupèdes et bipèdes ovipares. Crapalet. Paris. 332 pp. (Bipes, pp. 90–96.)
  • Taylor, E.H. 1951. Concerning Oligocene Amphisbaenid Reptiles. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 34 (9): 521-579. (Bipedidae, p. 522.)
  • Louis A. Somma, "Do Worm Lizards Occur in Nebraska?" "Nebraska Herpetological Newsletter 12:2 (1993), 1-10

References

  1. ↑ Wikispecies. species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Bipes.
  2. ↑ ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.
  3. ↑ Longrich, N. R.; Vinther, J.; Pyron, R. A.; Pisani, D.; Gauthier, J. A. (2015). "Biogeography of worm lizards (Amphisbaenia) driven by end-Cretaceous mass extinction". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 282 (1806): 20143034. doi:10.1098/rspb.2014.3034. PMC 4426617. PMID 25833855.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-12-16. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  5. ↑ Gans, Carl (1998). Cogger, H.G.; Zweifel, R.G., eds. Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 216–217. ISBN 0-12-178560-2.


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