San Diegan Legless Lizard

Range

The Anniella Stebbinsi is found in Southern California of United States of America and Northern Baja in Mexico.

Habitats

They are found in a wide range of habitat including coastal sand dunes, rocky hillsides, lowland grasslands and woodlands. They feed on adult insects, termites, spiders and insect larvae. Its female matures around two to three years of its life and is ready to mate by late spring and early summer. They are oviparous.

Identification

They are small, slender legless lizards with smooth shiny scales and a blunt tail. They are of average length of 5.2 inches. It has a light olive brown dorsum with strong yellow sides. These lizards have eyelids, shiny scales, shovel-shaped snouts and blunt tails. The presence of eyelids easily distinguishes them from a snake. Its ventral color is moderate yellow with a dorsum colored light olive brown. It also has a single black stripe that stretches from its parietals to tip of its tail and multiple black stripes which are one scale wide.

Learn more with Schechter Natural History's Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians