Snake-like lizards blink, break like glass
For immediate release ‐ July 06, 2023
Contact: Jon Pishney, 919.707.8083. Images available upon request
Eastern glass lizard with full tail. Photo: Jeff Beane/NCMNS.
The Ocracoke Observer recently highlighted the glass lizard, and interviewed Museum Collections Manager of Herpetology Jeff Beane. Glass lizards, also known as legless lizards, got their name because their tails easily break (sometimes into several pieces like glass) when grabbed by a predator. People often confuse them with snakes. The Museum has two live ones on exhibit.
By Peter Vankevich
Have you ever come across a slithering creature in the grass, in the road or under some brush or planks on Ocracoke that does not match photos of the 37 known snakes of North Carolina?
If it has a smooth, shiny body, the chances are that it is not actually a snake but a lizard without legs. On Ocracoke that would be an eastern glass lizard.
Read the whole article here.
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