Who are the amphisbaenians?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7594/revbio.19.01.03Keywords:
Amphisbaenia, biodiversity, worm-lizard, reptile, SquamataAbstract
Amphisbaenians are an intriguing group of fossorial reptiles, with about 200 known species distributed in South America, Caribbean, western Mexico, Florida, Africa, Iberian Peninsula, Anatolia, and Middle East. In this article, we present a general view on their biology, including their main morphological characteristics, current diversity, and the advances in the knowledge regarding their origin and evolutionary relationships, thanks to recent studies on paleontology, phylogenetic systematics, and biogeography.
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