''Lialis'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
legless lizard
Legless lizard may refer to any of several groups of lizards that have independently lost limbs or reduced them to the point of being of no use in locomotion.Pough ''et al.'' 1992. Herpetology: Third Edition. Pearson Prentice Hall:Pearson Education ...
s in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Pygopodidae
Pygopodidae, commonly known as snake-lizards, or flap-footed lizards, are a Family (biology), family of Legless lizard, legless lizards with reduced or absent limbs, and are a type of gecko. The 47 species are placed in two subfamilies and eight ...
. The genus is native to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
.
Diet
Lizards in the genus ''Lialis'' specialize in eating
skinks
Skinks are a type of lizard belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of liz ...
.
[Patchell F, Shine R (1986). "Feeding Mechanisms in Pygopodid Lizards: How Can Lialis Swallow Such Large Prey?". ''Journal of Herpetology'' 20 (1): 59-64.] They have hinged teeth and kinetic skull joints which flex allowing them to swallow their prey whole.
[
]
Reproduction
Lizards in the genus ''Lialis'' exhibit oviparity
Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...
.[
]
Species
The following two species are recognized as being valid.[ www.reptile-database.org.]
*''Lialis burtonis
''Lialis'' is a genus of legless lizards in the Family (biology), family Pygopodidae. The genus is native to Australia and New Guinea.
Diet
Lizards in the genus ''Lialis'' specialize in eating skinks.Patchell F, Richard Shine, Shine R (1986). "F ...
''
*'' Lialis jicari''
References
Further reading
* 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
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and English).
Pygopodidae
Lizard genera
Taxa named by John Edward Gray
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