If you have the opportunity to walk around the waters of Baja California in Mexico, don’t be too surprised to see a strange creature crawling under the water: a pink mole lizard as long as a snake, with a body as many as a worm. , the legs of a lizard and a head like….turtle.
The appearance of this reptile is a typical combination of 3 species: snakes, worms and turtles.
Because this animal has the same hobby of burrowing all day as the mole, they are named the mole lizard. This Mexican mole lizard , as explained in the BioGraphic video, is one of only three reptiles with only two limbs and a worm-like body. Therefore, they are also known as worm lizards.
Worm lizards are found in Mexico, and their only home is the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. This funny creature often hides in the ground, so if you can catch them on rocks crawling through the sand, it is a rare opportunity.
Sara Ruane, a biologist at Rutgers University, explains that the researchers had to use traps to catch the mole lizards. She shared that when she looked at the bottom of the bucket and caught them, she was surprised because she couldn’t see anything. So she plowed through the sand and a mole lizard suddenly emerged, swimming around in a beautiful pink body.
And for a few seconds, Ruane thought it might be some kind of blind snake because they were also pink and similar in appearance, but she knew, the creature living here could only be that kind of lizard. It was unbelievable that her dream came true to witness such a magical mole lizard.
Scientists don’t know much about this reptile. They spend a lot of time underground, crawling through sandy soils, making research challenging. Scientists could not understand what attracted them to dig so much, but they did learn that their main food was insects . In some places, they are the most scaled species (counted in the class of reptiles including snakes and lizards). Because they are quite dense inhabitants and eat a lot of bugs, mole lizards are one of the important components in the ecosystem.
In Baja, there is a funny and a little weird legend that goes like this: If you are outside and are about to take a shower, if you are inadvertent, mole lizards will crawl into your room and dig for themselves. a new residence with beautiful little feet. It doesn’t make sense for something crazy to happen, so don’t worry when you go to Baja, there won’t be any mole lizards coming to your place!
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