Ajolote

[herptrader]

Dear Jeff,

My curiosity is getting the better of me. Why were you asking?

Has somebody rocked up to the department with one claiming he found it in his back yard?

Has anyone got a good picture of an Ajolote and some info on these weird animals.

There was a reference to a pic in a topic on this site about 12 months ago under "unexplained mysteries", but that page no longer exists.

There is heaps of links out there on this cute little critter:

http://www.bluechameleon.org/Photo & Image Stockpile - BCV/WEB - Bipes biporus.htm
http://www.itis.usda.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=585762
http://sn2000.taxonomy.nl/Main/Classification/..\Details\50435.htm
http://www.embl-heidelberg.de/~uetz/families/Bipedidae.html
http://www.herpbreeder.com/worldspecies/Amphisbaenia/bipes.htm
http://www.bluechameleon.org/Reptile & Amphibian Photography.htm
http://www.sbc.su.se/~liberles/TAED3.0/Phylodata/52188.html
http://www.terrarium.com.pl/forum/read.php?f=11&t=14610&a=2
http://www.calusaherp.org/Speakers/bill_images/ws_ftp.log
http://www.sbc.su.se/~liberles/TAED3.0/Phylogeny/52187.html
http://www.cnah.org/pdf_files/196.pdf
http://www.omne-vivum.com/c/10049.htm
http://www.visualsunlimited.com/browse/vu303/vu303613.html
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/69/9/2714
http://experiencinglife.net/Biology/Sauropsida/36I.html
http://www.itis.usda.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=209637
http://pbil.univ-lyon1.fr/cgi-bin/acnuc-search-sp?query=BIPES BIPORUS&db=GenBank
http://www.futterhaus-tostedt.de/caresheets/detail_bipes_biporus,1141,7.html
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/kearneylab/pubs.html
http://www.sdnhm.org/research/herpetology/bajarept.html
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=427023
http://www.correodelmaestro.com/anteriores/2004/octubre/nosotros101.htm
http://www.pnas.org/content/vol69/issue9/
http://www.kingsnake.com/forum/whatl/messages/2148.html
http://www.speciesaccounts.org/Squamata.htm
http://www.all-life.com/c/10049.htm
http://www.zoologie.vd.ch/1_Actualite/Fiche_Animal/AcAm01_03.html
http://www.taxonomydata.com/alpha.php?type=species&ltr=B
http://www.calusaherp.org/Speakers/previous_meetings/january_2004.htm
http://www.omne-vivum.com/taxonomy/b.htm
http://www.grahamnewlandhaturalhistorybooks.com/si/3305.html
http://www.biology.wustl.edu/~lososlab/schulte/schultecv/Macetal98MBE.pdf
http://biosgi.wustl.edu/~lososlab/schulte/schultecv/Macetal98MBE.pdf
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/69/9/2714
http://www.naherpetology.org/pdf_files/196.pdf
http://www.genome.jp/dbget-bin/www_bget?refseq+NC_006287
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=432561

 

[Guest]

re Ajolote

Heres some imfo Jeff from Retiles and Amphibians atlas, Bipes Latreille.1802. Two legged Worm Lizards. Western Mexico. 3 species.About 20 cm. The onley amphisbaenids with well developed anterior limbs.The feet have 3 to 5 toes,some with claws.Brownish to flesh coloured.Found more frequently at the surface than other amphisbaenids,they are even capable of some climbing.Egg layers There is a few photos that look remarkably worm like with tiny black eyes.

 

[Magpie]

RE: re Ajolote

Reptiles magazine, Nov 2003. Baja Dreaming by Carl Franklin.
El Ajolote - Bipes Biporus.
The locals believe they crawl up your whatsit and shred your bowel with those razor sharp claws.

 

[JeffHardy]

RE: re Ajolote

Lol Magpie - thats why I wouldn'd sit on the ground in Baja

 

[africancichlidau]

Hope you're not keeping any Jeff, they are an exotic you know

 

[JeffHardy]

Africancichlidau said

Hope you're not keeping any Jeff, they are an exotic you know

Who? Me? 8) I was just looking for a non-poison solution for my local golf club that has a problem with scarab beetles in the greens. :lol:

 

[herptrader]

They would also deter the golfers from sitting on the greens ;-)

 

[JeffHardy]

Herptrader said

They would also deter the golfers from sitting on the greens

Yeah, results could be far worse than just getting a wet posterior from sitting on the grass, if the Mexicans are right.

 

[ErisKSC]

yeh, sorry troopers, hix got it, Amphisbaenids, is what i was trying to remember! My book says, there are 4 families, 18 genera and 152 species.
And that they are believed to be an early offshoot of the order squamata.

They areEndemic to South and Central America (carribean) as well as Africa, extendeing into Saudi peninsular and Spain.

Apparently a third of all known species are only knnown from a single specimen, so actual populations and full extent of habitat is unknown. Though the largest, Amphisbaena alba grows upto 72cm.

And we don't have 'em in Australia