How do they know this is a legless lizard and not a snake? Is it the way it moves, its tongue, etc?

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/04/30/gallery/legless-lizard-540x380.jpg

Legless lizards have ears, eyelids, vestigial little leg bones in their bodies, and yeah their tongues are different somehow too.

when did they first realize there was a difference? Have early scientists always known or did they used to be classified as snakes?

How do they know the difference between a frog and a toad ? :eek:

Legless lizards have ears, eyelids, vestigial little leg bones in their bodies, and yeah their tongues are different somehow too.

some snakes have vestigial leg bones

some snakes have vestigial leg bones

AURGH!! NO! Really???! nature is so tricky.
Do you know what snake has legs? (besides the ones in politics)

AURGH!! NO! Really???! nature is so tricky.
Do you know what snake has legs? (besides the ones in politics)

Pythons. Vestigial legs, you can hardly see them.

You know snakes evolved from legged reptiles, don't you ?

AURGH!! NO! Really???! nature is so tricky.
Do you know what snake has legs? (besides the ones in politics)

some of the larger constritors have spurs where legs used to be

Do legless lizards kill by constricting?

Do legless lizards kill by constricting?

:bugeye:

Seriously Orleander, 90% of the questions you ask in the threads you start can be quickly and easily answered by a google search.

Here, indulge: http://www.repticzone.com/forums/LeglessLizards/messages/1564059.html

so if a question could be answered by google, no one should post. I should sift through pages of data, which I may not understand, because....why?
if it bothers you that I ask, get out.

so if a question could be answered by google, no one should post. I should sift through pages of data, which I may not understand, because....why?
if it bothers you that I ask, get out.

I get the feeling you know the answer to most of your questions, but just feel like posting a thread about it.
It doesn't bother me at all, I'm happy to explain anything about the topics you start. It's just that I get the feeling that you are pretending.

Anyway, if I'm wrong about that forget I ever said anything about it.

If I ever post a question about metal or plastic, I am pretending. I never have.

My area of expertise is NOT legless lizards. There is a whole world of animals out there that I know nothing about. If I don't know, I ask.

If I ever post a question about metal or plastic, I am pretending. I never have.

My area of expertise is NOT legless lizards. There is a whole world of animals out there that I know nothing about. If I don't know, I ask.

Fair enough.

This is not meant in a denigrating way, but why don't you look it up yourself ?
Don't get me wrong, I like helping people with this kind of questions out. I'm just wondering.

You know snakes evolved from legged reptiles, don't you ?Snakes and lizards are grouped together into one order of reptiles: the squamates or "scaled reptiles." The other three are turtles, crocodiles and the sphenodonts, a very small group of vaguely lizard-like species in New Zealand.

But there is a third group of squamates besides snakes and lizards: the worm-lizards. These are superficially similar to snakes, with no legs, but they look more like worms.

So the phenomenon of legless reptiles is not all that rare and they don't even fall neatly into a single category.Do legless lizards kill by constricting?What made you think of that? Most snakes don't kill by constricting, that's primarily the big famous species. Some kill by poison, others by using the leverage of their multiply-jointed bodies to strike quickly and snatch small prey whole.

A large snake couldn't deliver enough poison to kill an animal big enough to provide nutrition. Remember the two-dimensional/three-dimensional problem that large animals have. The two-dimensional cross-section of their teeth limits the quantity of poison transferred, whereas the three-dimensional bulk of their torso increases their need for food disproportionately.

A large snake also can't maneuver as quickly as a small one so it's hard for him to catch bite-size prey. So they have to sneak up on larger, equally cumbersome animals and squeeze them to death, there's no other way to survive.

FR i dissagree with you about the poision. A tipan can deliver enough poision to kill a cow or a human quite quickly, Sea Snakes even more so. Now if a small snake like a tipan can kill something as large as a human then why couldnt a python use a similar poision?

FR i dissagree with you about the poision. A tipan can deliver enough poision to kill a cow or a human quite quickly, Sea Snakes even more so. Now if a small snake like a tipan can kill something as large as a human then why couldnt a python use a similar poision?

They use that as a defensive measure i.e. when it's cornered and sees no other way out. The animal will then be within range, obviously.

Besides, pythons can't swallow humans either. Maybe a small kid..

....What made you think of that? Most snakes don't kill by constricting, that's primarily the big famous species. ....

so is that a no? There is not a single lizard that kills by constricting? :confused:

so is that a no? There is not a single lizard that kills by constricting? :confused:

Did you follow that link I posted a few posts back ?

so why can't they? Is it a backbone thing?

so why can't they? Is it a backbone thing?

Probably has something to do with it.
Constrictors have very specific adaptations that allows them to constrict.
Legless lizards don't constrict.. so they don't have the adaptations.. so they can't.

How hard can it be to constrict? They just wrap around and around, tightening with each breath of its prey. Other snakes don't need to, they just bite and let the venom do the work. There are poisonous lizards, so why not constricting ones.

How hard can it be to constrict? They just wrap around and around, tightening with each breath of its prey. Other snakes don't need to, they just bite and let the venom do the work. There are poisonous lizards, so why not constricting ones.

I just told you.

A similar question would be "Why can't ostriches fly ?".

But I'm not asking about a specific lizard, I am asking about a whole group of them. How many different kinds of ostriches are there?

But I'm not asking about a specific lizard, I am asking about a whole group of them. How many different kinds of ostriches are there?

You are not getting the analogy.

Constricting snakes have evolved to be constricting snakes, legless lizards did not. Legless lizards can't constrict for the same reason a frog can't, or a bee.

And even if they could; they don't.
So it's really a pointless question.

Its not pointless! Get out!

Its not pointless to ask if they can. Its not pointless to ask why they can't. Its pointless to say 'just because'.

Its not pointless! Get out!

Its not pointless to ask if they can. Its not pointless to ask why they can't. Its pointless to say 'just because'.

I didn't say 'just because'.

It's as pointless as asking "Why can't a cactus drive a car ?".

You get out.

No, your answer was "why can't ostriches fly" and "frogs don't do it", and "why can't a cactus drive a car"
My thread you get out

No, your answer was "why can't ostriches fly" and "frogs don't do it", and "why can't a cactus drive a car"
My thread you get out

:bugeye:

You think that was my answer ?
Do you have a reading disability ?

and thank you for posting.

Does anyone know why lizards can't constrict?

You are one piece of work Orleander. Unbelievable...

You are one piece of work Orleander. Unbelievable...

WTF????????? We should demand the same thing. Any threads we make she should STAY THE FUCK out of.

Telling someone to get out of a thread just because she made it.....:crazy:

More because she didn't like my answers :shrug:

WTF????????? We should demand the same thing. Any threads we make she should STAY THE FUCK out of.

Telling someone to get out of a thread just because she made it.....:crazy:

anyone smell wax?

Seriously shorty. Was there a reason you posted this? Did you post the same reply when Enmos told draqon he was a moron and to get out? NO?? Savin' all that lovin for me?
I wish you could quit me. :shake:

so is that a no? There is not a single lizard that kills by constricting? :confused:

the legless lizards probably kill through constriction

You are not getting the analogy.

Constricting snakes have evolved to be constricting snakes, legless lizards did not. Legless lizards can't constrict for the same reason a frog can't, or a bee.

not according to Enmos. I have no idea why other than it just doesn't. Is it the backbone? Vestigal legs? But if the python has them and constricts, why not a lizard?

How hard can it be to constrict? They just wrap around and around, tightening with each breath of its prey. Other snakes don't need to, they just bite and let the venom do the work. There are poisonous lizards, so why not constricting ones.Not all snakes can constrict. The fact that they can wrap themselves loosely around a tree branch to hang in the sunshine, or coil up inside a basket, does not mean they have the physiology to wrap themselves around an animal tightly enough not just to immobilize it but to suffocate it. You're asking a reptile to perform an action that is geometrically analogous to you bending your torso into a quarter-circle. First you need much more range of motion in your vertebral joints, then you need more massive muscles, and finally you need your internal organs arranged differently so you don't suffocate yourself or rupture your stomach.

An animal with legs would have no reason to develop those adaptation since his legs are already very prehensile in comparison. True snakes evolved from legged reptiles so long ago that some of them went down a unique evolutionary path. But the legless lizards are not as old, so perhaps they just haven't been around long enough to develop the adaptations that the snakes have.

not according to Enmos. I have no idea why other than it just doesn't. Is it the backbone? Vestigal legs? But if the python has them and constricts, why not a lizard?

For God's sake woman ! :bugeye:

..and why not a rabbit ?

....But the legless lizards are not as old, so perhaps they just haven't been around long enough to develop the adaptations that the snakes have.

thanks Fraggle!

thanks Fraggle!

:bugeye: