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The living R. floridana is found only in Georgia and Florida, [3] but extinct species ranged across North America, some occurring as far west as Oregon. The family has a fossil record stretching back 60 million years to the Paleocene [ 4 ] and was most diverse in the continental interior during the Eocene and Oligocene .
Rhineura floridana, known commonly as the Florida worm lizard, [4] graveyard snake, [5] or thunderworm, is a species of amphisbaenian in the family Rhineuridae.The species is the only extant member of the genus Rhineura, [6] [7] and is found primarily in Florida but has been recorded in Lanier County, Georgia. [1]
Rhineura is a genus of worm lizard endemic to North America. The genus has only one extant species [ 1 ] [ 2 ] but more are known from fossil record. [ 3 ] They are also known as the North American worm lizards .
Populations exist mostly in southern and southwestern Florida with the largest, established populations occurring in several counties across Central and South Florida, according to the FWC.
The most diverse group, Lepidosauria, is first known from the Middle Triassic (240 million years ago) fossils, but likely originated in the Permian (approximately 300-250 million years ago). [1] Living lepidosaurs, which include snakes, lizards, and rhynchocephalians, occupy a wide range of environments and niches. [2]
Two species are introduced, including the Burmese python, which was introduced when Hurricane Andrew destroyed a holding facility full of imported snakes, and which created a huge media storm and fears it would become widely invasive, but this species has proven unable to withstand colder weather outside of extreme South Florida.
Dactyloidae are a family of lizards commonly known as anoles (US: / ə ˈ n oʊ. l i z / ⓘ) and native to warmer parts of the Americas, ranging from southeastern United States to Paraguay. [1] [2] Instead of treating it as a family, some authorities prefer to treat it as a subfamily, Dactyloinae, of the family Iguanidae.
However, it is represented by only one living species: the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), a superficially lizard-like reptile native to New Zealand. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] Lepidosauria is a monophyletic group (i.e. a clade ), containing all descendants of the last common ancestor of squamates and rhynchocephalians. [ 7 ]