''When it slithers through the grass, the legless glass lizard is
indistinguishable from a snake. But harass it and it will perform a very
un-snakelike feat. It will leave its tail behind – still wriggling –
and slide away. That isn’t the only surprise the glass lizard has in
store. A careful look also reveals inflexible jaws, movable eyelids, and
ear openings. These are all traits that lizards display but snakes
don’t. One way or another, this peculiar creature slithers between the
cracks of our familiar categories...''
Andreas Wagner is a professor in the Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies at the University of Zurich in Switzerland,
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