Ugly worm lizard

The ugly worm lizard (Cynisca feae) is a species of amphisbaenian in the family Amphisbaenidae. The species is native to West Africa.

Ugly worm lizard
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Clade:	Amphisbaenia
Family:	Amphisbaenidae
Genus:	Cynisca
Species:	C. feae
Binomial name
Cynisca feae (Boulenger, 1906)
Synonyms[2]
Placogaster feae Boulenger, 1906 Cynisca feae — Gans, 1987

Etymology

The specific name, feae, is in honor of Leonardo Fea, who was an Italian explorer and naturalist.^[3]

Geographic range

C. feae is found in The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, and Senegal.^[2]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of C. feae is forest.^[1]

Description

C. feae may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 16 cm (6.3 in) and a tail length of 1.5 cm (0.59 in). It is pale brown dorsally, and white ventrally. It has a single series of wide median ventral segments, each of which is six times wider than long.^[2]

Behavior

C. feae is terrestrial and fossorial.^[1]

Reproduction

C. feae is oviparous.^[2]