MEXICAN BLIND LIZARD Anelytropsis papillosus – Cope 1885

IDENTIFICATION: DISTRIBUTION: HABITAT: Habitat, 1,400′, Tamaulipas, Mexico NATURAL HISTORY: TAXONOMY: TYPE: PERSONAL NOTES: The only Anelytropsis papillosus I have ever seen came as quite a surprise to my colleague and I. Not only is this one of the world’s rarest and least understood species of lizard, but [...]]]>
Sub-Adult, 1,400′, Tamaulipas, Mexico

Close-Up of Head

Size of Sub-Adult, 1,400′, Tamaulipas, Mexico

MEXICAN BLIND LIZARD
Anelytropsis papillosus – Cope 1885

IDENTIFICATION:
DISTRIBUTION:
HABITAT:

Habitat, 1,400′, Tamaulipas, Mexico
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TYPE:
PERSONAL NOTES:
The only Anelytropsis papillosus I have ever seen came as quite a surprise to my colleague and I. Not only is this one of the world’s rarest and least understood species of lizard, but it was previously only known to inhabit tropical environments east of the Sierra Madre Oriental. In August, 2004 we were surveying a typical Chihuahuan Desert hillside near Tula, Tamaulipas when the specimen pictured above was unearthed from beneath a fallen tree yucca. The ground was quite wet from the previous night’s intense thunderstorm activity. Many additional yucca were flipped but only a single Hypsiglena jani ssp. could be found. The habitat and reptile fauna at this locality is quite similar to the vast majority of Chihuahuan Desert in Mexico and Texas, and it is quite possible that Anelytropsis occurs elsewhere in the states of Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosi and Nuevo Leon in such habitats.
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