The Slender Glass Lizard is a species of legless lizard that is endemic to the United States. It is often mistaken to be a snake.
These lizards are large and can grow to well over 3 feet in length with the tail making up much of this length.
There are two different sub-species of this lizard that have to different geographical ranges. They are the Western and Eastern Slender Glass Lizard.
Slender Glass Lizard Taxonomy
In the Animal Kingdom, Taxonomy is used as the science and practice of classifying different species and sub-species based on their biological and genetic makeup.
Family
The family of lizard that the Slender Glass Lizard belongs to is called Anguidae. This is a large and diverse family that is native to the Northern Hemisphere.
The types of lizards in this family include the Slowworms, Galliwasps, Glass Lizards and Alligator Lizards among a number of other species.
Some of the other species in this family include the Mexican Alligator Lizard and the Texas Alligator Lizard.
Genus
The genus that the Slender Glass Lizard belongs to is called Ophisaurus. There are currently 6 recognised species in this genus.
This is a genus of legless lizards that are often referred to as the Glass lizards. They are called glass lizards because their tails can be broken off as ‘easily as glass’.
Some of the other species in this genus include the Eastern Glass Lizard and the Rainbow Glass Lizard.
Species
The scientific name for the Slender Glass Lizard is Ophisaurus attenuatus and there are currently two recognised sub-species.
The two sub-species are the Eastern Slender Glass Lizard (Ophisaurus attenuatus longicaudus) and the Western Slender Glass Lizard (Ophisaurus attenuatus attenuatus).
This species was first described in 1880 by two American herpetologists named Spencer Fullerton Baird and Edward Drinker Cope.
Baird described a number of species including the Sharptail Snake, the Western Hognose Snake, the Great Plains Rat Snake and the Great Plains Rat Snake.
Slender Glass Lizard Description
The Slender Glass Lizard is a species of lizard that doesn’t have any legs. These kinds of lizards are often referred to as legless lizard.
Because they have no legs, they look more like a snake than a lizard and are often mistaken as such.
They are usually yellow and brown in color and have a mid-dorsal stripe running the length of their body. They have a couple of other stripes running along their body also.
The two subspecies of Slender Glass Lizard can easily be differentiated as they have different markings and tail lengths.
The Eastern Slender Glass Lizards has a tail that is nearly twice as long as the tail on the Western Slender Glass Lizard.
They are a large species of lizard that can grow to over 1m in length including their tail. However, they are usually a bit smaller than this.
It can be hard to distinguish between a male and female slender glass lizard as they have the same colors and patterning. However, mature males are typically longer than females.
The Western Slender Glass Lizard is usually smaller, growing to an average length of around two feet.
The Eastern sub-species is typically larger and can reach an average length of around three feet.
These snakes often find it difficult to move over smooth surfaces as they lack the necessary muscle strength that is typically found in snakes.
Natural Habitat and Distribution
The Slender Glass Lizard is native to the South-Central and South-Eastern United States with the two sub-species occupying two separate geographical ranges.
The Western sub-species if found in the Western half of the species range while the Eastern sub-species can be found on the Eastern side.
The ranges of these two sub-species are divided by the Mississippi River Delta and this area is actually absent of both sub-species.
The Western Slender Glass Lizard can primarily be found in the South-Central United States although they can be found a bit further North.
These lizards can be found in places such as Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri.
They can also be found in some of the states further North such as Illinois and Wisconsin, but they are much rarer there.
The Eastern Slender Glass Lizard can be found in the South-Eastern United States. Their range doesn’t extend as far North as the Western sub-species.
Their range extends from the Eastern edge of Louisiana into Mississippi. They can also be found in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
Extending North, they can be found in South Carolina, North Carolina and into the Southern parts of Virginia.
They can be found in a variety of habitats such as Pine Forests, Oak Forests and other dry forested areas.
They can also be found in savannas, prairies, grasslands and woodland edges. They like to live in areas with less canopy cover and plenty of leaf litter.
Slender Glass Lizard Behaviour
The Slender Glass Lizards is a fairly skittish species and will attempt to flee when it is approached.
The very long tail on these lizards serves an important function. If the snake is caught from behind by a predator, it can detach its tail.
This will help give the lizard time to escape while the predator is focused on ‘attacking’ or consuming the detached tail.
If a Glass Lizard drops its tail, it can be regenerated. In fact, the majority of these lizards will have regenerated tails in the wild.
These lizards can be considered fossorial as the dig small burrows or nests underground. They are a slow-moving species and typically don’t wander too far from these nests.
They will hibernate and lay their eggs in underground nests or tunnels. However, they often use deeper tunnels dug by other species for this.
The behaviour of these lizards is highly dependent on external factors with temperature probably being the most important of these external factors.
If the days are excessively hot, this lizard will become active at night and sleep throughout the day, effectively adopting a nocturnal lifestyle.
However, if the temperature is cooler and too cold during the night, they will become active during the day time, effectively switching to a diurnal lifestyle.
They will hibernate in underground burrows during the winter months when it becomes too cold for them to remain active.
These underground burrows have to be deep enough to remain below the frost line to protect the lizard from the harsh conditions.
While they will sometimes construct these burrows themselves, they will also take over an abandoned burrow that was previously constructed.