Also known as sluggish snake, sleeping snake, thunder chief snake, or Yaoshan Sphenodon, it belongs to the Shinisauridae family of Lacertiformes order, with the Latin scientific name of Shinisaurus crocodilurus, and English name of Chinese Xenosaurs.
It is 3 to 3.6 centimeters in full length, but the tail is longer than its body. Its appearance is similar to the lizard, in the shape of cylinder, but the tail is flat like that of the crocodile; hence it gets the name. It has low and blunt snout, high head in the shape of a rectangle, and both sides with obvious ridges, which extend to the tail. It has rough body surface, chocolate brown back, and brown body sides with black stripes. The ventral surface is pale yellow, dotted with short dark spots. The tail has transverse strips which are in alternating colors of black and brown. The four limbs are short, with keen and crooked claws on the finger-ends and toe-ends.
It lives in plashes of mountain brooks, moving about in the morning and dusk, and sleeping soundly on the withes in the daytime. When startled, it will jump into water immediately. Its propagation season is from June to August every year, in the mode of ovoviviparity. Its hibernation period is from November to March of the next year. Besides insects, it also eats tadpoles, frogs, tiny fish and worms.
Endemic to China, it is distributed in Dayao Mountain of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and classified into single family, single series and single species. In addition to general characteristics of Saurian order, it still retains some aboriginal features such as, skull in the shape of palaeo-palate, the parietal eyehole, etc. With important scientific research value, it needs strict protection.
Email to Friends
Print
Save