Notes on the Silvery Footless Lizard, Anniella pulchra

Abstract

I had previously advised Dr. Burt that I had collected this species only as far east as Jacumba, the approximate eastern limit of the range of a number of Upper Sonoran reptile forms. Mr. Frank Stephens has written to remind me that he had collected specimens of this lizard at La Puerta, in eastern San Diego County, these having been reported as long ago as 1917 by Grinnell and Camp. Specimens taken by Stephens are in the collections of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and the San Diego Society of Natural History. Also, since I wrote Dr. Burt, the Zoological Society of San Diego has received, through the activities of a county road crew, a number of specimens from Sentenac Canyon, Yaqui Well, The Narrows, and the San Felipe Wash, all of which points are in eastern San Diego County on the edge of the desert, that is, at the base of the desert foothills. Thus, the presence of this lizard is definitely established in desert situations where such typically Lower Sonoran forms as Dipsosaurus dorsalis dorsalis, Sonora occipitalis, and Crotalus cerastes are met. Here the rainfall probably averages below three inches per annum and the summer temperatures are extremely high. Although most of these desert specimens were collected in February, some were taken in July and August. Thus, the theory that this species is restricted to a moderately moist area is hardly tenable. It would be interesting to experiment with some of these desert individuals to determine if they, likewise, prefer moist sand to dry, as did Dr. Burt's coastal specimen. While my field experience leads me to believe that Anniella prefers a sandy to a rocky habitat, and is most plentiful along the coast, it is occasionally found in dense soil or amongst rocks. I have usually collected specimens under stones, or burlap sacks or other debris, but most of the specimens brought to the Zoological Society are found in the course of digging excavations. Anniella differs from Leptotyphlops humilis humilis in that the latter evidently prefers rocky situations. Dead specimens of the worm snake are occasionally found crushed on the road; I do not recall finding an Anniella in this condition, and in view of the fact that the legless lizards are much more common than the worm snakes, they must travel about less above ground. This is rather unexpected in view of the rudimentary eye of the snake as compared with that of the lizard. I find the desert specimens of Anniella to be lighter in color than those from the coastal side of the mountains, but the difference is not sufficiently marked to permit their ready segregation in a mixed lot. Anniella pulchra is quite variable in pattern and color. The conspicuous element of