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External view of anal spurs on a male, albino burmese python Skeleton of a Boelens python showing the bones inside the anal spurs Pelvic spurs (also known as vestigial legs) are external protrusions found around the cloaca in certain superfamilies of snakes belonging to the greater infraorder Alethinophidia. [1]
Large, well-developed limbs increase drag on swimming animals, so the limbs of Eupodophis and other early snakes may have become vestigial to save energy and make movement more efficient. No vestigial limbs whatsoever are present in the modern species, which lack transitional species remnants. What few species have them protrude as tiny spurs.
The term spur is sometimes used to describe the pelvic spur, vestigial limbs found in primitive snakes, such as boas and pythons and in the striped legless lizard. [3] [4] The spurs primarily serve as holdfasts during mating. As these form at the terminal end of the limb, they may properly be claws rather than true spurs.
[10]: 11 [11] Pythons and boas—primitive groups among modern snakes—have vestigial hind limbs: tiny, clawed digits known as anal spurs, which are used to grasp during mating. [10]: 11 [12] The Leptotyphlopidae and Typhlopidae groups also possess remnants of the pelvic girdle, sometimes appearing as horny projections when visible.
Both families share a number of primitive characteristics. Nearly all have a relatively rigid lower jaw with a coronoid element, as well as a vestigial pelvic girdle with hind limbs that are partially visible as a pair of spurs, one on either side of the vent. In males, these anal spurs are larger and more conspicuous than in females. A long ...
In basal snakes, such as the python, embryos in early development exhibit a hind limb bud that develops with some cartilage and a cartilaginous pelvic element, however this degenerates before hatching. [98] This presence of vestigial development suggests that some snakes are still undergoing hind limb reduction before they are eliminated. [99]
Leonardo DiCaprio now has a new species of snake named in his honor!. Researchers first discovered the reptile in the western Himalayas in the summer of 2020, the Miami Herald reported, citing an ...
Species: N. bipes. Binomial name; Nessia bipes (Smith, 1935) Smith's snake skink (Nessia bipes), ... Fore limbs absent. Hind limbs vestigial and appear as buds ...