The Amphisbaenidae are a family of amphisbaenians, commonly known as worm lizards. They are found in North

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 and South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, some Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 islands, and in sub-Saharan Africa. One deep branching and somewhat aberrant genus, Blanus

Blanus

Blanus is a genus of reptile in the family Amphisbaenidae. It contains the following species:* Iberian Worm Lizard * Moroccan Worm Lizard * Anatolian Worm Lizard * Blanus tingitanus...

, is native to Europe, and may represent a distinct family.

Members of the family are limbless, burrowing

Fossorial

A fossorial organism is one that is adapted to digging and life underground such as the badger, the naked mole rat, and the mole salamanders Ambystomatidae...

, lizard-like reptiles with a carnivorous diet. Some species have spade

Spade

A spade is a tool designed primarily for the purpose of digging or removing earth. Early spades were made of riven wood. After the art of metalworking was discovered, spades were made with sharper tips of metal. Before the advent of metal spades manual labor was less efficient at moving earth,...

-like heads, while others have a narrow crest.

Genera

There are over 120 species in the family, grouped into seventeen genera:

• Amphisbaena
  Amphisbaena (genus)
  Amphisbaena is a genus in the family Amphisbaenidae, commonly known as the worm lizards. There are over 40 species in this diverse genus.-Selected species:* Amphisbaena alba White Worm Lizard...
  
  Linnaeus, 1758
• Ancylocranium Scortecci, 1930
• Anops Bell, 1833
• Aulura Barbour, 1914
• Baikia Gray, 1865
• Blanus
  Blanus
  Blanus is a genus of reptile in the family Amphisbaenidae. It contains the following species:* Iberian Worm Lizard * Moroccan Worm Lizard * Anatolian Worm Lizard * Blanus tingitanus...
  
  Vandelli, 1797
• Bronia Wiegmann, 1828
• Cercolophia Strauch, 1881
• Chirindia Boulenger, 1907
• Cynisca Duméril & Bibron, 1839
• Dalophia Gray, 1865
• Geocalamus Günther, 1880
• Leposternon Hemprich, 1820
• Loveridgea Tornier, 1899
• Mesobaena Mertens, 1925
• Monopeltis Smith, 1848
• Zygaspis Peters, 1854

External links

• http://www.jcvi.org/reptiles/families/amphisbaenidae.php