Anguis fragilis

Physical traits

These reptiles are mostly active during the twilight and occasionally bask in the sun, but are more often found hiding beneath rocks and logs. They are carnivorous and, because they feed on slugs and worms, they can often be found in long grass and other damp environments.

The females give birth to live young (ovoviviparous birth). In the days leading up to birth, the female can often be seen basking in the sun on a warm road.

Although these lizards are often mistaken for snakes, a number of features differentiate them. The most important one is that they have small eyes with eyelids that, like other lizards, blink. Unlike snakes, they may also have visible ears. They shed their skin in patches, whereas most snakes shed their skins whole. Slowworms may also shed their tails (autotomy) as a defence mechanism, by breaking one of their tail vertebrae in half. The pattern of a slowworm's ventral scales is also different from that of a snake's.

Size and longevity

Adult slowworms grow to be about 50 cm long, and are known for their exceptionally long lives; the slowworm may be the longest-living lizard, living about 30 years in the wild and up to at least 54 years in captivity (this record is held by a male slowworm that lived at the Copenhagen Zoo from 1892 until 1946, the age when first obtained is unknown). The female often has a stripe along the spine and dark sides, while the male may have blue spots dorsally. Juveniles of both sexes are gold with dark brown bellies and sides with a dark stripe along the spine.

Protected status in the UK

In the United Kingdom, the slowworm has been granted protected status, alongside all other native British reptile species. The slowworm has been decreasing in numbers, and under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, to intentionally kill, injure, sell, or advertise to sell them is illegal.

Ireland

The slowworm is not native to Ireland, but is believed to have been illegally introduced in the 1970s. It has been sighted only in parts of County Clare, mainly in the Burren region.

Taxonomy

• Anguis fragilis Linnaeus, 1758
  • A. f. fragilis Linnaeus, 1758
  • A. f. colchicus Nordmann, 1840

The subspecies A. f. fragilis is found all over Europe, while A. f. colchicus is found in southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Iran.