Legless yellow-bellied lizard in the Kuban brief description. Unique facts from the history and nature of Crimea. Description and features

Quite often, residents and guests of Crimea, the Caucasus or Central Asia frightens the creeping reptile yellow-bellied, which is mistaken for poisonous steppe viper. In Ukraine, his place of residence is only Crimea.

The length of this representative of the spindle family reaches about a meter, and it has a menacing appearance. However, the local inhabitants know that this animal is completely harmless, and the yellow-bellied little one moves with difficulty, so those who are especially fearful will always have time to hide. But we also do not recommend trying to catch him, since he will still be able to bite, so much so that he will crush his fingers. You won’t need any help, but there won’t be many pleasant sensations either.

Description of the yellow-bellied lizard

This representative of the spindle lizards can grow to a length of about 125 centimeters. The body is hard and elastic, serpentine in shape and somewhat flattened at the sides. There are lateral flattened folded formations. From lizards, they have the property of “shedding” their tail.

In natural conditions, the yellow-bellied snake has a quite colorful and memorable appearance, its skin is smooth and shiny. Unfortunately, in captivity all this is lost, and the animal takes on a somewhat inconspicuous appearance. Therefore, it is necessary to soberly assess the feasibility of such an acquisition.

Keeping a yellow belly at home

There is a real opportunity to keep one of these in a private home. To do this, he needs to be provided with complete solitude in a terrarium that has a flat horizontal shape. The bottom is filled with sand with the addition of gravel.

Must be followed temperature regime, close to natural conditions residence of the legless yellow-bellied lizard, namely: at night from 18 to 22 ° C, and during the day the temperature environment should range from 22 to 30°C. There is no need to provide a certain air humidity, since yellowbellies are quite happy with the microclimate of a city apartment or house.

Feeding and breeding of the Crimean yellowbell

In nature, this reptile feeds on various kinds of insects, and its diet is not much different from an ordinary lizard. At home, the yellow belly should be fed with earthworms, slugs, newborn mice, eggs of small birds, juicy fruits and vegetables. It is quite possible that your pet will willingly feast on small lizards or snakes.

Successful reproduction of the fat belly presupposes an obligatory long hibernation, which is provoked by the stable maintenance of low temperatures in the terrarium. Such a dream can last for several months. Around June or July, a female yellowbell can lay up to a dozen eggs. average size and somewhat oblong in shape. The incubation period is 30 or 45 days and must occur at an ambient temperature of at least 30°C.

In captivity, cardinal changes can occur with the yellow-bellied appearance. For example, as young individuals grow older, they change their striped yellow-gray color to a uniform brown or bronze color. This is one of the few species of lizards that does not show natural aggression towards its owner, even with powerful jaws and decent body size.

The opinion that the yellowbell is poisonous is very erroneous. This specimen is on the verge of extinction and is listed in the Red Book of Ukraine for the simple reason that it is often mistaken for dangerous viper and are mercilessly exterminated.

Essentially this is big lizard with modified legs, which are represented by specific longitudinal folds on the sides of the body. It is by this feature, as well as by the absence of teeth and the presence of eyelids, that one can distinguish the yellowbell from the rest, representing real threat, reptiles.

Taxonomic affiliation: Class - Reptiles (Reptilia), series - Lizards (Sauria), family - Godwits (Anguidae). The only representative of the genus. The species includes 2 subspecies; P. a. lives in Ukraine. apodus (Pallas, 1775). Previously, the species was assigned to the genus Ophisaurus Daudin, 1803.

Conservation status: Vanishing.

Range of the species and its distribution in Ukraine: From the Balkan Peninsula to the south. Kazakhstan and Iran. In Ukraine, it lives only in Crimea, where it inhabits the lowlands of the west. parts of the Crimean Mountains (the southern coast of Crimea and the northern macroslope of the mountains to the Alma River valley up to an altitude of 500-700 m above sea level), the village. and east coast of the Kerch Peninsula. It was also observed in the extreme west of the Tarkhankut Peninsula.

Number and reasons for its change In the south-west parts Mountain Crimea and in the Kerch Azov region, the yellowbell still retains a high number (in some places up to 7-15 individuals per 1 km of route), but usually the population density does not exceed 0.2-0.5 individuals/km. Mediterranean relic near the village. range boundaries, is especially vulnerable due to the late onset of sexual maturity and low survival rate of young animals.

Reasons for the change in numbers: Destruction of biotopes (especially with continuous development), destruction by humans, mass death on highways.

Features of biology and scientific significance: Active from late February - late March until September-November. In dry years, summer hibernation is possible. Storage areas are voids under stones and roots of bushes, rodent holes. It feeds on large insects (Coleoptera, Orthoptera), mollusks, crustaceans, centipedes, and less often small vertebrates. Mating occurs in April-May. The only clutch of 4-10 eggs occurs in June-July. The young appear in September-October. Has great scientific significance.

Morphological characteristics: A very large legless lizard with a snake-like body. The length of the body is up to 82 cm, but usually less than 48 cm. The tail is on average 1.6 times longer than the body. On the sides of the body there is a deep leather bundle, near the cloacal opening there are rudiments of the hind limbs. The color of the upper body is olive or reddish-brown, the belly is yellowish-gray. Fingerlings are light gray in color with transverse brown stripes.

Population conservation regime and protection measures:: The species is under special protection of the convention (Appendix II). Protected in the Yalta Mountain-Forest Nature Reserve, “Cape Martyan”, Krymsky and Kazantipsky. It is recommended to relocate lizards from declining urban populations to the nearest protected areas, strengthening the protection of the Karalar steppe, reintroducing the species into the Karadag and Opuksky natural reserves and outreach work with the population.

Economic and commercial significance: The destruction of invertebrates harmful to humans can be beneficial. Illegally caught for sale, so it has a certain commercial value.

The largest lizard in Crimea is the Yellow Tummy (not dangerous to human life). This is very large lizard. The record length for the species is 144 cm (with tail). The tail is approximately twice as long as the body. The head of the yellow belly goes into the body without the slightest hint of a cervical interception. It has a shape characteristic of lizards, uniformly tapering towards the tip of the muzzle. The yellow belly retains rudiments of its hind limbs, which do not play any role in its life. The teeth are very characteristic - powerful, blunt, adapted to crushing. The body of the yellowbell is hard and inflexible, as it is covered with large ribbed scales, under which there are bone plates measuring approximately 5x5 millimeters, forming a bony shell. Because of this feature, the genus that includes the yellowbell is called “shell spindles.” There is a gap between the abdominal and dorsal parts of the bone chain mail, which from the outside looks like a lateral longitudinal fold of skin. It is formed by one or two rows of smaller scales without a bone base. Thanks to these folds, slightly greater body mobility is ensured. In addition, folds allow you to increase the volume of the body when eating or when carrying eggs. Adult yellowbellies are yellow and brown tones. Small dark spots are sometimes scattered across this background. The underside of the body is lighter. Young yellowbellies look completely different: they are striped. The background color of their body is yellowish-gray, the stripes are dark, transverse, zigzag. Where does the yellowbell live? Yellowtail is a southern lizard. In Europe it is found only in Balkan Peninsula and in Crimea; widespread in Asia Minor and the Middle East, Central Asia and southern Kazakhstan. In Russia it is known from the Krasnodar and Stavropol territories, Kalmykia and Dagestan. In the areas of its distribution, the yellowbell uses a variety of open habitats: steppes and semi-deserts, mountain slopes, sparse forests, vineyards and abandoned fields. Found at altitudes up to 2300 meters. He is active during the day, and often catches your eye - crawls onto the roads, climbs into buildings. In contrast to the shade- and moisture-loving spindle, the yellowbell prefers dry and sunny biotopes. But he willingly enters shallow water and can stay in the water for a long time, although he practically cannot swim. At night and on hot afternoons, the yellowbell hides in thickets of bushes, under objects lying on the ground, in piles of stones. In some places, yellowbellies are a common and frequently encountered lizard. Despite the relatively low flexibility of the body, the yellowbell can crawl with quite high speed. At the same time, it intensively wriggles in waves with a large amplitude, and, after covering several meters, it stops for a short time. Then another powerful jerk, and again a short pause. Such crawling is noticeably different from the smooth and uniform movement of snakes. The yellow belly has to move a lot - within a day it covers an area with a radius of about 200 meters. What do yellowbellies eat? The yellow-bellied lizard is one of the few lizards specialized in feeding on certain “products”. Powerful jaws and developed blunt teeth are adapted to crushing the outer shells of animals, primarily mollusks. Both in nature and in captivity, yellowbellies prefer this particular prey. If the spindle chooses naked slugs or cleverly pulls snails out of their shells, then the yellow-bellied one simply bites through their “houses” like a nutcracker. Even such large mollusks with thick shells as the grape snail are defenseless against the yellowbelly. He actively searches for his prey. Having noticed her, he can creep up very slowly and then, from a distance of several centimeters, rush at her with lightning speed with a wide open mouth, which seems to cover the victim from above. He not only crushes snails with his jaws, but also, holding them in his mouth, presses them against nearby stones. Swallowed shells and their fragments are digested in the yellowbell's stomach. Just like snails, the yellowbell also bites through large hard insects - beetles, orthoptera. On occasion, he will eat a bird's egg, a chick, a mouse-like rodent, a toad, a lizard, and even a snake. It tries to crush the captured prey, quickly spinning around its axis, so that the victim is crushed on the ground. Like the spindles, two yellow-bellied ones, having grabbed one prey from both ends, can, rotating in different directions, tear it apart “brotherly”. Unlike the spindle, the yellow belly includes in its diet plant foods, for example, apricot carrion, vizhnrad berries. The omnivorous yellowbell even eats carrion - a rare food for reptiles; in nature, they observed how yellowbellies tried to swallow the corpses of pikas and magpies. Reproduction of yellowbellies About social and mating behavior Almost nothing is known about the yellowbell. In captivity, lizards of this species are peaceful towards each other and towards snakes kept together with them. Males are much more common in nature than females. Perhaps females are less active and spend more time in shelters. The yellowbell has powerful jaws, but it rarely uses them for defense. Taken in hand, he tries to free himself with the help of vigorous writhing and rotation around his axis. The enemy can also be doused with excrement. These lizards reproduce by laying eggs. In clutch 6-10 large eggs in an elastic white shell; their length is 3-4 centimeters, width 1.5-2 centimeters. There was a case where a female protected her clutch by coiling around it, as some snakes do. Young yellowbellies, about 10 centimeters long, hatch after a month and a half. It remains a mystery why adults are common and frequently encountered animals in their habitats, while their juveniles are extremely rarely seen. This may be due to as yet unknown features of the biology of young yellowbellies. Like the spindle, when molting, the yellowtail moves dead layers of skin towards the tail. Large size and bony “chain mail” protect adult animals from most natural predators. They are attacked by some birds, as well as foxes and dogs. In yellowtails, it does not regenerate. In nature, you can find a lot of individuals with signs of injury and torn off ends of their tails. In some populations, the proportion of such disabled people reaches 50 percent. Obviously, the main culprits of these injuries are predators that grab lizards by the long tails when they crawl into shelters in which they do not fit entirely, and the defenseless tail remains outside. Hedgehogs are especially dangerous in this regard - they cannot cope with a large and strong lizard, but they can easily tear off or bite off a piece of its tail. Perhaps the yellowtail's tail freezes during sudden frosts. It is also possible that yellowbellies themselves can inflict injuries on each other in fights or during mating. Injured and tailless lizards do not differ from healthy ones either in behavior or in the nature of activity. Many of these lizards are destroyed by man in his eternal struggle with snakes. They are also caught for keeping in captivity (yellowbellies live well in terrariums and enclosures under open air). But humans inflict no less damage on them indirectly: yellowbellies die on the roads, fall into various holes, ditches, and structures from which they cannot get out.

What is a legless yellowbell - a snake, a lizard or some other reptile?

In fact, this animal is a member of the genus Pseudopus (Armored spindles) of the Anguidae family.

Structure

This lizard has no forelimbs. The hind legs are represented by two rudimentary processes near the anus. It resembles a snake due to the absence of legs and the method of movement by bending the body.

The largest individuals can reach a length of one and a half meters. The average size body one meter. The muzzle tapers towards the nose. The reptile's head is tetrahedral, which immediately distinguishes it from snakes. Another difference between the yellow belly is the ear openings. Pseudopus apodus can also blink.

The skin consists of scales that fit smoothly to each other. Beneath them are bone plates called osteoderms. There are folds of skin along both sides along the entire body. The yellow belly has no chest.

The color of adult lizards is uniform: olive, yellowish-brown, red-brown. Young reptiles up to three years old are distinguished by the presence of stripes throughout the body, reminiscent of the Roman numeral “Ⅴ”, zigzags or arcs. In this case, the main skin is gray-yellow tones. The abdomen of lizards of any age is lighter than the body and tail.

Reproduction

The mating period begins after emerging from winter anabiosis - from March to May. Only specialists through behavioral research, hormonal levels and other subtle characteristics can determine whether an individual is a female or a male.

At the beginning of summer, the yellow-bellied lizard lays from six to twelve oval-shaped eggs, which have approximately two centimeters in transverse diameter and four centimeters in longitudinal diameter.

The reptile buries the clutch in the leaves and guards it for thirty to sixty-five days, turning the eggs over and cleaning them from dirt. Comfortable temperature for embryo development - 30⁰C.

The young are born up to twelve centimeters long, excluding the tail.

The yellowtail reaches sexual maturity at four years. At this point, the size of the body increases three times from birth. The total lifespan can be thirty years.

Lifestyle

At the end of autumn, with the first cold weather, the legless yellow-bellied lizard hibernates until spring. In the warm season most basking in the sun during the day. And in the morning and at dusk he goes hunting.

Like many reptiles, the yellowbelly molts. But unlike snakes, which shed their skin in the form of a stocking, Pseudopus apodus does this in pieces.

Like other species of lizards, it can throw off its tail in times of danger. It is separated reflexively as a result of muscle contraction with a smooth fracture surface. The new tail grows shorter and crooked.

In nature it feeds on mollusks and insects. In some cases, it can eat a small vertebrate animal, chewing it instead of swallowing it whole, like a snake. When eating large prey, the folds on the body are smoothed out. It also includes ripe juicy fruits and bird eggs in its diet.

Habitats

The geographical distribution of the reptile is limited to South-West and Central Asia and the south-eastern part of Europe. A legless lizard can be found on the shore:

• Adriatic, Black (Crimea) and Caspian Seas,
• in Transcaucasia,
• in Russia and Kazakhstan,
• in Turkey,
• Israel,
• Iran,
• Syria,
• Iraq.

Based on their habitat, they are divided into western and eastern yellowbellies, which differ in length. Pseudopus apodus, discovered in Bulgaria, bigger size than his brethren from the East.

The biotopes of this reptile are quite diverse. It can be found in steppes, semi-deserts, on hills, forest edges, in bush thickets, in mountains at an altitude of up to 2.3 km above sea level, in deciduous forests and river valleys. It is also possible to live on cultivated lands: fields with rice and cotton, vineyards.

The yellow belly is not afraid of water either - in it it can hide from enemies.

It can use bushes and reeds, piles of stones, and burrows of other animals as a dwelling. It crawls away from the shelter in search of food within three hundred meters.

Yellowtail in captivity

One individual requires a terrarium, an aquarium or a horizontal aquaterrarium. Minimum dimensions from one hundred centimeters in length, sixty in width and fifty in height.

Coarse sand mixed with gravel is poured onto the bottom of the terrarium. There must be a drinking bowl and a container of water in which the yellow belly can swim.

Like other reptiles, the legless lizard needs good lighting for ten to twelve hours and. The lamps are installed at a safe distance so that the animal does not get burned. The air during the day should be heated to 30⁰C, at night the temperature drops to 20⁰C. Humidity should be moderate, about 60%.

In addition to the pool, the terrarium needs various shelters:

• driftwood,
• clay pots,
• stones,
• bark.

The diet should consist of insects (excluding ordinary flies and cockroaches, which can be poisoned), slugs, small mice, grape snails, chicks, bird eggs, earthworms. It is sometimes acceptable to give mixtures of vegetables and fruits with cottage cheese and a boiled egg. Used as a mineral supplement bone meal and calcium glycerophosphate. They are added to soft foods.

IN winter time it is necessary to provide the animal with conditions for hibernation, gradually reducing the temperature to five degrees Celsius. To prepare for suspended animation, the yellowbell is not fed for about a week. After this, the temperature is maintained at 12-14⁰C for adaptation.

Myths about the legless lizard

Some believe that yellowbellies eat venomous snakes. However, this is absolutely not true. Lizards maintain neutrality with vipers and other snakes. Therefore, representatives of Pseudopus apodus are far from being a mongoose or a secretary bird. Although boa constrictors and eirenis may well be food for a legless reptile.

Another myth - is the yellowbell a poisonous snake or not? This animal does not contain poison in its teeth; they are not sharp enough to quickly kill the victim. In addition, the lizard cannot coil itself like a snake to suffocate its prey. Therefore, in most cases, Pseudopus apodus is quite safe for humans and only in exceptional cases can it attempt to bite him.

Date: 2011-03-15

R. Pushkin, Moscow

In the mountains of the Caucasus and Central Asia lives a strange creature - yellow-bellied(Ophisaurus apodus). Seeing it for the first time, anyone will decide that it is a snake: a long, more than 100 cm, cylindrical body, an elongated tail, a characteristic way of moving - all this is perfectly consistent with our ideas about snakes.
In reality, this is a completely harmless lizard, only legless. True, upon closer examination you can see on its body small papillary-shaped outgrowths on the sides of the base of the tail - the rudiments of the hind limbs. The presence of ear openings also confirms that the yellow-bellied snake is a lizard - after all, real snakes are deaf and have no ears. And the animal’s eyes have eyelids; it can blink, while snakes even sleep with their eyes open.

Photos of Zheltopuzik

This reptile belongs to the spindle family (Anguidae). including 80 species of lizards living in the countries of South, Central and. partially, North America, North Africa. Southwestern, Southern and South-East Asia. In the CIS, it is distributed in the Crimea, the Caucasus and Central Asia, where it is often found in river valleys, bush thickets and cultivated lands. Another representative of the spindle family also lives with us - the brittle spindle, which enjoys great fame among the people. poisonous snake, although this is also a completely safe legless lizard.

The second largest lizard of our fauna, second in size only to the gray monitor lizard.
This reptile is active during daylight hours, but on hot days it switches to twilight image life, willingly goes into the water and swims for a long time. When frightened, it is capable of moving very quickly, especially downhill, while in a calm state it moves slowly and clumsily.
He is truly terribly afraid of a person. If other reptiles crawl away silently and unnoticed, then the yellow belly makes so much noise, the grass sways above it so much that it is very difficult to confuse it with other reptiles. Perhaps such a non-trivial method of escape is a peculiar protective measure, since the lizard, incapable of active defense, makes so much noise, imitates a large animal hiding in the grass.
When caught, she does not even try to bite, but, rotating along her own base. trying to get out of his hands, as it were. If this doesn’t help, then he hangs lifelessly in his arms, closes his eyes, as if saying: I’m dead, throw me away. The only manifestation of a defensive reaction on the part of the yellow belly can be considered hissing and sudden movements of the tail, which is twice as long as the body.

During the breeding season ( June July) female yellowbellied lays 6-10 eggs. Of these, young animals 100-125 mm long are born in August-September. Their slender yellowish-gray bodies are decorated with zigzag transverse stripes. In juveniles, compared to adults, the longitudinal ribs on the scutes are much more pronounced: they merge into long (from the head to the tip of the tail) costal stripes. This makes their bodies look faceted and shimmer with yellow highlights in the sun.
In general, the coloring of young animals bears very little resemblance to the dirty yellow or copper-red tones of adult animals. However, the characteristic skin fold, located along the sides. Unlike other lizards, and even snakes, the yellow-bellied body is hard to the touch, as if encased in a shell.

Photos of Zheltopuzik

The diet of yellowbellies in nature consists of invertebrates: snails, beetles, slugs, earthworms. But rodents, lizards, frogs, chicks and bird eggs quite often become part of their menu. Large prey The yellow belly, held in its strong jaws, stuns with sharp shakes of its head. He does not disdain carrion either. A significant portion of the lizard's diet consists of the fruits of various plants.
The variety of food consumed by the yellow belly allows it to be considered one of the most omnivorous inhabitants of the terrarium, which does not cause feeding problems to the owner. In captivity, it produces both live food (mice, frogs, worms, snails) and meat and fish in the form of minced meat or pieces. In the absence of animal food, you can replace it with plant food: apples, grapes, grated carrots. And yet it is not worth depriving lizards of animal protein; It is better to use plant components only as a supplement to diversify the diet. Cottage cheese and White bread, wetted raw egg.
They live for a long time in captivity and reproduce even in small terrariums. For a couple of adult animals, a room with a bottom area of ​​70x50 cm and a height of about 40 cm is sufficient. It is best to use coarse river sand as soil. Large, heavy stones or driftwood are suitable for decoration; they also serve for constructing shelters.

It is necessary to have a reservoir of suitable size not only for drinking, but also for swimming. The pond must be secured so that your pets cannot turn it over.
Like many reptiles, the yellow belly often defecates in the water, so you need to constantly monitor its cleanliness and promptly replace it.

To heat a terrarium of the specified size, a krypton lamp, located in the corner and reliably protected from animals, is sufficient. The lamp power is selected so that the air temperature is not lower than 25-27°C. To maintain its stability, you can use an aquarium thermostat. At night, the heating should be turned off to simulate a natural decrease in temperature to 18-20°C.
In addition to heating and lighting, the yellow belly, like other reptiles, needs ultraviolet irradiation. Typically, erythema lamps or Photon-type devices are used for this. Sessions are carried out 1-2 times a week for 20-30 minutes from a distance of 50-100 cm. The first procedures should not exceed 5 minutes, then their duration is gradually increased.

Photos of Zheltopuzik

Despite the ease of care, yellowbellies cannot be classified as an animal that is widespread among lovers of keeping reptiles at home. One of the main reasons for this is amazing ability lizards create chaos in the terrarium, quickly destroying the decorations created there. It must be remembered that the yellow-bellied animal is a strong animal, and the locks of the terrarium must be strong enough.
At good care regular feeding (2-3 times a week), attentive attitude towards animals, you will get real pleasure from observing, learn a lot of interesting things about amazing world reptiles.
In conclusion, I want to say: if you meet a yellowbell in nature, do not harm it. Remember this useful lizard, destroying a huge number of mice, grasshoppers and locusts, beetles, leaf beetles, slugs, weevils and other pests of agricultural land.

Aquarium Magazine 1999 No. 2