Question

Ophisaurus is a___________________
(a)Blind snake
(b)Glass snake
(c)Sea snake
(d)Tree snake

Answer 1

Hint: Ophisaurus is a limbless and almost snake-like fossorial lizard. Its body is elongated, snout is pointed, and the tail is exceptionally long, constituting nearly two-third of the length of the whole body.

Complete answer:
Ophisaurus is the North American and Eastern Himalayan glass lizard. It is also known as glass snakes. They resemble snakes in appearance but are actually lizards. This lizard externally differs from snakes in having movable eyelids and external ear openings. The North American glass lizard differs from Indian form in having a pair of cloacal spikes. They usually feed on the insects, reptiles and spiders. Some of them have very small, stub-like legs near their rear vents. These are vestigial organs, which means they have evolved and are no longer in use. These animals are also known as jointed snakes.

Additional Information: -Their locomotion is by lateral undulations of the body. Ophisaurus is well known for caudal autotomy.
-When seized by enemies, it breaks off its tail into fragments which wriggle about attracting the attention of the enemy. By the time the lizard slowly moves away. They are so-named because their tails can be broken easily like lizards. They also have the ability to check predation by breaking a part of the tail.
-They belong to the class reptilia, Subclass Diapsida and order squamata.
So, the correct answer is 'Glass snake'.

Note: In Diapsida Supratemporal and infratemporal fossa are present. Reptiles are cold-blooded, lung breathing, oviparous tetrapods, with dry skin covered by exoskeleton of epidermal scales, called corneocytes.
-The group is a heterogeneous assemblage, represented today by lizards, snakes, crocodiles, turtles, tortoises and sphenodon.
-Reptiles are believed to be evolved from the carboniferous amphibian stock Ichthyostega, which existed about 360 million years ago. This significantly involved the evolution of shelled and amniotic eggs.