One of the most unusual reptiles of the Iberian Peninsula, and certainly one of the easiest to mistake for something else entirely. At first glance, it looks like a giant earthworm—slender, cylindrical, and segmented-looking, with a pinkish to purplish-gray sheen. But look closer, and you’ll discover it’s not a worm at all but a legless reptile, part of the ancient amphisbaenian group, more closely related to lizards than snakes. Living almost entirely underground, this secretive creature is a hidden resident of Spain and Portugal that most people never see, even though it’s fairly widespread.

The Iberian worm lizard is smaller than snakes, with smooth scales arranged in rings that give it a segmented, wormlike look. Its head is blunt and shovel-shaped, perfectly adapted for digging through soil, while its tail is short and rounded—so similar to the head that it can confuse predators about which end is which. Unlike snakes, it has tiny, scale-covered eyes that can only detect light and dark, and it also retains ear openings (another snake giveaway). Internally, it even carries remnants of its ancestral lizard body plan, like traces of a shoulder girdle, showing how evolution reshaped it for a subterranean life.

As a burrower, the Iberian worm lizard spends most of its time in loose soils, farmlands, gardens, and dry scrublands, rarely surfacing except after heavy rains. It feeds mainly on ants, termites, beetle larvae, and other small invertebrates, crushing them with its surprisingly strong jaws. Farmers sometimes unearth them while plowing or digging, and while they can look unsettling at first, they are completely harmless—in fact, they are beneficial, acting as natural pest controllers below ground.

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Portugal

2023

Spain

2023