A slender glass lizard. (Photo through Shutterstock)
If you consider legless reptiles, snakes are most likely the first and only factor to return to thoughts, however there are different legless reptiles slithering their means across the land, together with one proper right here in Will County.
The slender glass lizard is one in all two lizards dwelling in Will County — the different being the six-lined racerunner — however nobody would blame you if you happen to confused the glass lizard for a snake. It is legless, in spite of everything, and will get round similar to a snake does.
So if it appears to be like like a snake and acts like a snake, why is not the slender glass lizard thought of a snake? While it’s limbless like a snake, it’s thought of a lizard as a substitute of a snake as a result of it has movable eyelids and exterior ear openings, in keeping with the Illinois Natural History Survey. Their jaws additionally aren’t versatile like snakes’ are.
Slender glass lizards are sometimes between 22 inches and 42 inches lengthy, they usually have deep grooves that run alongside each side of their skinny our bodies, in keeping with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. They are sometimes brown or tan in coloration, with darker-colored stripes working the lengths of their our bodies.
They are known as glass lizards as a result of they’ve very lengthy, fragile tails that may simply break off, IDNR experiences. They may also detach their tails to evade seize. The tails will regrow, however not so long as the authentic tail was. And the new tail will at all times finish in a pointy level.
This lizard is not typically seen in Illinois, though it’s recognized to inhabit some components of the state, together with Will County, in keeping with the Illinois Natural History Survey. Although it is only not often seen, it isn’t listed as endangered or threatened in Illinois. It is, nevertheless, listed as a species in best want of conservation in the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan.
Where they’re discovered, slender glass lizards sometimes stay in habitats with free, sandy soils, significantly sand prairies, sandy oak savannas and woodland edges, in keeping with IDNR. In the forest preserves, the slender glass lizard has been documented in a couple of preserves that meet its habitat wants.
Glass lizards will be energetic throughout the day or at night time, relying on the temperature, in keeping with Animal Diversity Web. If it’s sizzling, they are going to be energetic at night time. During cooler temperatures, they’re energetic throughout the day. In the winter, they hibernate in a burrow dug beneath the frost line, the place they will keep secure from predators.
Slender glass lizards principally eat bugs like beetles, caterpillars, cicadas, cockroaches, crickets and grasshoppers, however additionally they eat spiders, snails, small rodents, small birds and even different lizards, Animal Diversity Web experiences. They are preyed on by many animals, together with coyotes, foxes, opossums, raccoons and skunks. Their eggs are additionally eaten by different animals, particularly small rodents.
The lizards themselves can even generally eat their very own eggs if they don’t seem to be wholesome, in keeping with Animal Diversity Web. Females have one clutch a 12 months, laying between 5 and 16 eggs. She will stick with them till they hatch, however the mom doesn’t present any parental care or help after they hatch.
While these legless lizards are one in all a sort in Will County, slender glass lizards are removed from the only legless lizards. More than 100 species exist in all, and there are legless lizard species on each continent by which lizards stay, Reptiles magazine experiences.
