Urucum worm lizard


The Urucum worm lizard '' is a species of amphisbaenian in the family Amphisbaenidae. The species is native to central South America.

Etymology

The specific name, leeseri, is in honor of Leo Leeser, who died in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, but whose estate funded the Leo Leeser Center for Tropical Biology.

Geographic range

A. leeseri is found in southwestern Brazil and in adjacent northern Paraguay.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of A. leeseri is savanna.

Description

A. leeseri is small for its genus. It has 216–240 body annuli, and 14–16 tail annuli.

Behavior

A. leeseri is terrestrial and fossorial.

Reproduction

A. leeseri is oviparous.