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Anniella pulchra GRAY, 1852

IUCN Red List - Anniella pulchra - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaAnguidae (Anniellinae),
Diploglossa, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: California Legless Lizard
S: Lagartija Ápoda
pulchra: Silvery Legless Lizard, S: Apoda Plateada
nigra: Black Legless Lizard, S: Apoda Negra 
SynonymAnniella pulchra GRAY 1852: 440
Anniella pulchra — BOULENGER 1885: 299
Anniella nigra FISCHER 1885: 9
Anniella nigra — BOULENGER 1885: 300
Anniella texana BOULENGER 1887: 50
Anniella pulchra — VAN DENBURGH 1905
Anniella pulchra pulchra — GRINNELL & CAMP 1917: 170
Anniella pulchra pulchra — SMITH 1946
Anniella pulchra nigra — SMITH 1946
Anniella pulchra pulchra— SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 209
Anniella nigra nigra — HUNT 1983
Anniella pulchra pulchra — STEBBINS 1985: 168
Anniella pulchra — STEBBINS 1985: 168
Anniella pulchra nigra — GOTCH 1986
Anniella pulchra — LINER 1994
Anniella pulchra nigra — CROTHER 2000: 31
Anniella pulchra— PIANKA & VITT 2003: 27
Anniella pulchra pulchra — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009
Anniella pulchra nigra — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009
Anniella pulchra — CROTHER et al. 2012
Anniella pulchra — PAPENFUSS & PARHAM 2013
Anniella pulchra — HANSEN & SHEDD 2025 
DistributionUSA (CW/SW California)

pulchra: Pacific slopes of C/S California; Type locality: California. Restricted to San Diego, by SMITH & TAYLOR 1950. Neotype locality: Pinnacles National Monument, San Benito County, California.

nigra (invalid): Type locality: Near San Diego, California, USA.  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesNeotype: MVZ 64656, designated by Murphy and Smith 1991; Holotype: was BMNH 52.4.12.3; the holotype of A. pulchra was shown to be A. geronimensis by Hunt 1983 who also (temporarily) synonymized geronimensis with pulchra.
Syntypes: lost, originally ZMH fide HALLERMANN 1998, leg. J. BEHRENS [nigra] 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 6270 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy: Van Denburgh 1905 considered A. nigra as a race of A. pulchra although he did not formally suggest to use a subspecies name. However, Van Denburgh explicitly synonymized A. texana with A. pulchra.

Subspecies: A. pulchra nigra, a melanic form restricted to two disjunct coastal populations may have arisen independently from different ancestral populations and is that not monophyletic. Many subsequent authors thus synonymized this subspecies with A. pulchra.

Distribution: A. pulchra does not occur in Mexico where it is represented by A. stebbinsi (since the latter was split off from A. pulchra). See map in Hunt 2008, Thomson et al. 2016: 186.

Type species: Anniella pulchra GRAY 1852 is the type species of the genus Anniella GRAY 1852. Note that A pulchra has been split up into 5 different species by PAPENFUSS & PARHAMM 2013. Anniella is also the type genus of the subfamily Anniellinae (sometimes considered as a family, Anniellidae, but the latter status would make if paraphyletic fide Zheng & Wiens 2016).

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin “pulcher” = beautiful, handsome, fine, fair. Limbless.

The genus name was not explained by John Edward Gray, but he often created obscure or fanciful scientific names. It could be a given name, as the archaic Polish, Italian, and Spanish feminine cognates, ‘Aniella’ and ‘Anniella’, as well as the Christian feminine name, ‘Agnes’, are derived from the Latin noun “agnellus”, meaning little lamb. Beltz (2006) speculated the name could be a combination of the Latin noun ‘anulus’, meaning ring, and the feminine Latin diminutive ‘–ella’, meaning little, possibly referring to the cylindrical shape and small size of the body, or even a combination of the pet name Annie and the suffix ‘–ella’ (from Hunt 2008). 
References
  • Baur, G. 1894. The relationship of the Lacertilian genus Anniella, Gray. Proc. US Natl. Mus. 17 (1005): 345-351 - get paper here
  • Bertolotto, C.E.V.; K.C.M. Pellegrino and Y. Yonenaga-Yassuda 2004. Occurrence of B chromosomes in lizards: a review. Cytogenet Genome Res 106: 243–246 - get paper here
  • Bettelheim, M.P. 2005. The California Legless Lizard and the Baja California Legless Lizard . . . A Natural History of the Species. Nature Booklets Volunteer Project, P.O. Box 140935, Gainesville, Florida 32614
  • Bezy, Robert L. & John W. Wright 1971. Karyotypic variation and relationships of the California legless lizard Anniella pulchra Gray (Reptilia: Anniellidae. Herpetological Review 3(4): 71-72. - get paper here
  • Bezy, Robert L.;Wright, John W. 1971. Karyotypic variation and relationships of the California Legless Lizard Anniella pulchra Gray (Reptilia: Anniellidae). Herpetological Review 3 (4): 71-72 - get paper here
  • Bhullar, Bhart-Anjan S. and Christopher J. Bell. 2008. Osteoderms of the California Legless Lizard Anniella (Squamata: Anguidae) and Their Relevance for Considerations of Miniaturization. Copeia 2008 (4): 785-793 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 2, Second edition. London, xiii+497 pp. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1887. Descriptions of new reptiles and batrachians in the British Museum (Natural History), Part iii. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (5) 20: 50-53 - get paper here
  • Burt, C. 1931. An Interpretation of Certain Experimental and Observational Data on the Limbless Lizard, Anniella pulchra Gray. Copeia, 1931(3), 105-106 - get paper here
  • Bury, R.B. & T.G. Balgooyen 1976. Temperature Selectivity in the Legless Lizard, Anniella pulchra. Copeia 1976 (1): 152-155. - get paper here
  • Collins, J.T. and T. W. Taggart 2009. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Sixth Edition. Center for North American Herpetology, 48 pp.
  • Crother, B. I. (ed.) 2012. Standard Common and Current Scientific Names for North American Amphibians, Turtles, Reptiles, and Crocodilians, Seventh Edition. Herpetological Circular 39: 1-92
  • Fischer, J. G. 1886. Herpetologische Notizen. Abh. Geb. Naturw. Hamb. 9: 51-67 (1-19) - get paper here
  • Fischer, J.G. 1886. Ueber eine Kollektion Reptilien und Amphibien von der Insel Nias und über eine zweite Art der Gattung Anniella GRAY. Abh. Naturw. Ver. Hamburg 19 (1): 3-10
  • Fusari, M.H. 1985. Drinking of soil water by the California legless lizard, Anniella pulchra Copeia 1985 (4): 981-986. - get paper here
  • Gans, C., W.K. Morgan & E.S. Allen 1992. Surface Locomotion of the Elongate and Limbless Lizard Anniella pulchra (Anguidae) Herpetologica 48 (2): 246-262. - get paper here
  • Gorman, J. 1957. Recent collections of the Californian limbless lizard, Anniella pulchra. Copeia 1957 (2): 148-150. - get paper here
  • Gotch, A. F. 1986. Reptiles - Their Latin Names Explained. Blandford Press, 176 pp.
  • Gray, J. E. 1852. Description of several new genera of reptiles, principally from the collection of H.M.S. Herald. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (2) 10: 437-440 - get paper here
  • Grinnell, J. & CAMP, C.L. 1917. A distributional list of the amphibians and reptiles of California. Univ. California Publ. Zool. 17: 127-208
  • Hallermann, J. 1998. Annotated catalogue of the type specimens of the herpetological collection in the Zoological Museum of the University of Hamburg. Mitt. hamb. zool. Mus. Inst 95: 197-223.
  • Hansen, Robert and Jackson D. Shedd 2025. California Amphibians and Reptiles. Princeton University Press, 528 pp., ISBN<br />9780691249087 (ebook) - get paper here
  • Hunt, L. E. 1983. A nomenclatural rearrangement of the genus Anniella (Sauria: Anniellidae). Copeia 1983 (1): 79-89 - get paper here
  • Hunt, L.E. 2008. Anniella (Legless Lizards). Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (848): 1-11 - get paper here
  • Hunt, L.E. 2008. Anniella pulchra (California Legless Lizard). Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (850): 1-14 - get paper here
  • Hunt, Lawrence E. 2011. Geographic Distribution: Anniella pulchra (California legless lizard). Herpetological Review 42 (3): 390 - get paper here
  • ICZN 1993. ANNIELLA-PULCHRA GRAY 1852 REPTILIA SQUAMATA NEOTYPE DESIGNED. Bull. Zool. Nomenclature 50 (2): 186-187. - get paper here
  • Jennings M R. SPRACKLAND R G. GRIFFITH H. ZWEIFEL R G. 1992. On the proposed conservation of the specific name of Anniella pulchra Gray, 1852 and designation of a neotype (Reptilia, Squamata). Bull. Zool. Nomenclature 49, (3): 234-235. - get paper here
  • Jones, L.L. & Lovich, R.E. 2009. Lizards of the American Southwest. A photographic field guide. Rio Nuevo Publishers, Tucson, AZ, 568 pp. [review in Reptilia 86: 84] - get paper here
  • Klauber, Laurence M. 1932. Notes on the silvery footless lizard, Anniella pulchra. Copeia 1932 (1): 4-6 - get paper here
  • Klauber, Laurence M. 1940. Notes from a herpetological diary, II. Copeia 1940 (1): 15-18 - get paper here
  • Miller, Charles M. 1943. An intergradient population connecting Anniella pulchra pulchra and Anniella pulchra nigra. Copeia. 1943 (1): 2-6 - get paper here
  • Murphy R W. & SMITH H M. 1991. Anniella pulchra Gray, 1852 (Reptilia, Squamata): proposed designation of a neotype. Bull. Zool. Nomenclature 48 (4): 316-318. - get paper here
  • Parham, J.F. and T.J. Papenfuss 2009. High genetic diversity among fossorial lizard populations (Anniella pulchra) in a rapidly developing landscape (Central California). Conservation Genetics 10(1):169-176. - get paper here
  • Pearse, D.E.; Pogson, G.H. 2000. Parallel evolution of the melanic form of the California legless lizard, Anniella pulchra, inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence variation. Evolution 54 (3): 1041-1046. - get paper here
  • Pianka, E.R. & Vitt, L.J. 2003. Lizards - Windows to the Evolution of Diversity. University of California Press, Berkeley, 347 pp. [review in Copeia 2004: 955] - get paper here
  • Pilliod, D., Jeffries, M., Arkle, R. and Olson, D. 2024. Climate Futures for Lizards and Snakes in Western North America May Result in New Species Management Issues. Ecol Evol, 14: e70379 - get paper here
  • Rodríguez-Robles, Javier A., Good, David A., Wake, David B. 2003. Brief History of Herpetology in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, with a List of Type Specimens of Recent Amphibians and Reptiles. UC Publications in Zoology, 119 pp. - get paper here
  • Shaw, C.E. 1953. Anniella pulchra and A. geronimensis, Sympatric Species. Herpetologica 8 (4): 167-170
  • Smith, Hobart M. 1946. Handbook of Lizards: Lizards of the United States and of Canada. Comstock, Ithaca, NY, xxii + 557 pp.
  • Sprackland, Robert George 1996. California's legless lizards. Reptile & Amphibian Magazine 1996 (July/Aug.): 119-123 - get paper here
  • Stebbins,R.C. 1985. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, Boston
  • Stokely, Paul Scott 1947. Limblessness and correlated changes in the girdles of a comparative morphological series of lizards. American Midland Naturalist 38 (3): 725-754 - get paper here
  • Thomson, Robert C.; Amber N. Wright & H. Bradley Shaffer 2016. California Amphibian and Reptile Species of Special Concern. University of California Press - get paper here
  • Uetz, P.H.; Patel, M.; Gbadamosi, Z.; Nguyen, A.; Shoope, S. 2024. A Reference Database of Reptile Images. Taxonomy 4: 723–732 - get paper here
  • Van Denburgh, John 1905. The species of the Reptilian genus Anniella, with especial referrence to Anniella texana and to variation in Anniella nigra. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. ser. 3, 4(2):41-49 - get paper here
  • Wermuth, H. 1969. Liste der rezenten Amphibien und Reptilien. Anguidae. Anniellidae, Xenosauridae. Das Tierreich 90: 1-42.
  • Zweifel, Richard G. 1958. Results of the Puritan-American Museum of Natural History Expedition to western Mexico 2. Notes on reptiles and amphibians from the Pacific Coastal Islands of Baja California. American Museum Novitates (1895): 1-17 - get paper here
 
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