Species Hierarchy
Kingdom ANIMAL (ANIMALIA)
Phylum BACKBONED ANIMALS (CHORDATA)
Class REPTILES (REPTILIA)
Order LIZARDS AND SNAKES (SQUAMATA)
Family SNAKES - GLASS AND ALLIGATOR LIZARDS (ANGUIDAE)
Common name: LIZARD - SLENDER GLASS
Scentific name: OPHISAURUS ATTENUATUS LONGICAUDUS

DORSAL VIEW
Location: NORTH CAROLINA, USA

Species Info:

This lifeform is found east of the Continental Divide in North America.

Slender glass lizard (Ophisaurus attentuatus) is found from eastern Virginia south to Florida and west to Texas and Oklahoma. The eastern subspecies (Ophisaurus attenuatus longicaudus) is found primarily east of the Mississippi River. The western subspecies is found primarily west of the Mississippi River except for an area around Illinois. The head and body can be up to a foot long but the total length can be up to 42 inches. This unusual lizard has no legs.

Lizards and Snakes (Squamata Order) share many common characteristics and consequently they are grouped in a single order. There are greater differences between some groups of lizards than there are between other groups of lizards and snakes. The same is true of snakes. Lizards and snakes share a common skull shape.

Reptiles (Class Reptilia) are an ancient group of scaled  chordates. These scales may be permanently joined, as in the  turtles, or flexible, as in the snakes. Reptiles are land-based. Their eggs are laid on land and the young are air breathing.

Backboned Animals (Phylum Chordata) are the most advanced group of animals on earth. These animals are characterized by having a spinal cord or backbone. Most members have a clearly defined brain that controls the organism through a spinal cord. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals are in this phylum.

Currently, some taxonomists believe that the fish should be divided into two groups (sharks and regular fishes) and that there are some other primitive groups in the phylum such as hagfish or lampreys.

Animal Kingdom contains numerous organisms that feed on other animals or plants. Included in the animal kingdom are the lower marine invertebrates such as sponges and corals, the jointed legged animals such as insects and spiders, and the backboned animals such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

 

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