Anguinae is a subfamily of in the family Anguidae, commonly called glass lizards, glass snakes or . The first two names come from the fact their tails easily break or snap off. Members of Anguinae are native to North America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa.
Evolution
They first appeared in Europe during the early
Eocene, approximately 48.6 million years ago, originating from North American ancestors that crossed over from Greenland via the Thule Land Bridge and spread toward Asia sometime after the drying of the
Turgai Strait at the beginning of the
Oligocene, and then across the Bering Land Bridge to North America during the
Miocene.
Description
Very
vestigial hindlegs are present in
Hyalosaurus and
Pseudopus, but are entirely absent in the other
genera.
[Lavin, & Girman, D. J. (2019). Phylogenetic relationships and divergence dating in the Glass Lizards (Anguinae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution., 133, 128–140.] Members of the group largely feed on insects and other invertebrates.
The largest living species, the
Sheltopusik (
Pseudopus apodus),
can reach lengths of .
Taxonomy
The subfamily contains the following genera:
-
Dopasia (7 species), native to eastern Asia
-
Hyalosaurus (1 species), native to North Africa
-
Ophisaurus (6 species), native to eastern North America
-
Pseudopus (1 extant species, the Sheltopusik), native to Europe and Asia
-
Anguis - slowworms (5 species), native to Europe and Western Asia
Relationships after Lavin & Girman, 2019:
