''Amphisbaena caeca'', commonly known as the Puerto Rican worm lizard or blind worm lizard, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

worm lizard Amphisbaenia (called amphisbaenians or worm lizards) is a group of typically legless lizards, comprising over 200 extant species. Amphisbaenians are characterized by their long bodies, the reduction or loss of the limbs, and rudimentary eyes. As ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. These animals are vermicular reptiles that live under logs, rocks, and dirt. Other species of Amphisbaenids in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

include '' Amphisbaena bakeri'', '' Amphisbaena fenestrata, Amphisbaena schmidti'', ''

Amphisbaena xera ''Amphisbaena xera'', known commonly as the dry worm lizard, Puerto Rican dryland worm lizard, or the North American worm lizard, is a worm lizard species. It is endemic to Puerto Rico. Etymology The specific name, ''xera'', which is from Greek ...

'', and '' Cadea blanoides''. Amphisbaenids are legless, worm-like reptiles with elongated bodies nearly uniform in diameter. They are covered with ring-like scales similar in appearance to earthworms. They are underground animals, hence the eyes have degenerated to tiny indistinct spots under the rings.

Description

''Amphisbaena caeca'' is pinkish-brown on the head and tail, with dark spots on each of the scales found throughout its annuli (body rings), of which there are between 214 and 237 in this species. This helps distinguish it from ''A. bakeri'', whose annuli count is greater. It is one of the two largest amphisbaenids on the island (the other being ''A. bakeri''), measuring up to in snout to vent length (SVL). Like other members of its clade, it has only one median tooth. Because it is somewhat difficult to distinguish its head from its tail, it is sometimes referred to as a "two-headed snake" ("''culebra de dos cabezas''") by Puerto Rican locals. According to folklore, wearing a live ''Amphisbaena'' on the body "helps safeguard pregnancy" while wearing a dead snake "helps rheumatism".

Habits

They can be found burrowing in the ground under logs, rocks, old tree stumps, and under termite and ant nests.

Habitat

They live in dense

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

s, thickets, and

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

Geographic range

The distribution of this species is the widest of any amphisbaenid in Puerto Rico, being found throughout the central mountainous region of the island up to an elevation of . They have also been found in Isla Vieques,

Isla Culebra Isla Culebra (, ''Snake Island'') is an island, town and municipality of Puerto Rico, and together with Vieques, it is geographically part of the Spanish Virgin Islands. It is located approximately east of the Puerto Rican mainland, west of ...

, and the

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands () are an archipelago between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Caribbean Sea, geographically forming part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean, Caribbean islands or West Indie ...

.usda.gov
Yet Determined.Html&ttype=detail&pname=El Yunque National Forest- Nature

References

External links

Caribbean National Forest
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2844298 Reptiles of Puerto Rico caeca Reptiles described in 1829 Taxa named by Georges Cuvier