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RAUK - Archived Forum - Anguis cephallonica????????

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Anguis cephallonica????????:

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Matt Wilson
Member
Joined: 25 May 2003
No. of posts: 38


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Posted: 02 Jun 2003
This is photo taken last summer on Greek island of Cephalonia, rather unusual head proportions in my opinion, got David Bird to check it out but i doubt that anybody is entirely sure about this specimen. It was attacked by a group of cats and bit them in return. My friend who lives on the island took this photo, i didn't see any anguis when i visited the island last June, but am returning for 2 weeks field work next week, so if i find Anguis cephallonica i will take detailed photos to send to the correct individuals for a good looking over. The chap who took the picture is genuine, and he showed my a higher resolution photo when i was on the island and how it had cat's furr in it's mouth. It did definately bit one of the cats, as it has small wounds, after both cat and slow-worm were found on his patio one night. He killed the Anguis as it had a large wound on it's other side, not visiable on the pic. He is not a Herpetologist, in fact he is terrified of snakes. This species only occurs on Cephalonia and Ithaca, and i will certainly try to find them next week. Ophisaurus is also present and common on the island, but i doubt there is a link. I'd say that it is a very old Anguis, most other people i have shown the photograph to agree with me. I am only seventeen and have only visited Greece over the last few years for reptiles, just wondering if anyone else has seen such a specimen. David Bird passed on the picture to Natural History Museum, but nothing appeared to develop from this.
Matthew Wilson

Matt Wilson
Member
Joined: 25 May 2003
No. of posts: 38


View other posts by Matt Wilson
Posted: 02 Jun 2003

Sorry, here is picture, forgot to attach.

administrator37823.6787037037
Matthew Wilson

Alan Hyde
Senior Member
Joined: 17 Apr 2003
No. of posts: 1416


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Posted: 02 Jun 2003

Hi Mathew , welcome to the boards.

As you can see from my other posts i'm into field herping in other countries also . I must agree, that is a very odd looking specimin , do you know it's length at all?

Alan


O-> O+>
Matt Wilson
Member
Joined: 25 May 2003
No. of posts: 38


View other posts by Matt Wilson
Posted: 02 Jun 2003

Hi Alan,

Very much like all your photographs you posted on the forum. This specimen will probably just be a very old slow-worm as they are known to live much longer than snakes. It has no vental groove, which means that it is not a Glass Lizard. It was about 50cm, i went to the local vet on the island who had a slow-worm in a jar, but he had thrown it out the day before i visited him. I will certainly investigate it further when i return next week, but i suspect that any Anguis i see will be a typical specimen, and not like the one photographed. Slow-worms are often hard to track down in hot Med countries, as even in this country, how often does one see a slow-worm out basking? When summer approaches they often retreat further under ground than usual.


Matthew Wilson

-LAF
Senior Member
Joined: 03 Apr 2003
No. of posts: 317


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Posted: 02 Jun 2003

Hi Matt, It's a really unusual looking animal this one! I know that slow-worms can live for over 50 years in captivity but what they look like at that age I don't know. I'm not sure if there are any photographs of really old Anguis in existence but they'd be an interesting comparison. This evening I will post a head scalation map for A. fragilis (British form - female). If you have a higher resolution photograph that you can make out the head scalation from then this may be useful for comparison. Do you know the sex of this animal? The neck and dorsolateral lines would suggest female but there is no obvious dorsal stripe. As this animal seems to have shed its tail at some point sexing by tail proportion is out...  In this case 50cm is a monsterously big Anguis as they're usually half tail or more! Do you know the snout-vent length?

Finally, it seems incredible that a slow worm would put up anysort of fight against a cat. Cats regularly kill adders and it seems surprising that a slow worm (about the most benign herp imaginable) would get a chance to bite back, let alone try.

Anyway, great pic of an amazing animal! Cheers, Lee.


Lee Fairclough
-LAF
Senior Member
Joined: 03 Apr 2003
No. of posts: 317


View other posts by -LAF
Posted: 02 Jun 2003
Sorry, hadn't read your post properly! Always thought of Anguis as monotypic in Europe - my lizard tyaxonomy isn't great ... so not sure about adult markings for sexing A. cephallonica, nor wether sv length/tail ratio's are similar to fragilis. Have you seen other cephallonica? Obviously this latin name refers to something about the head (cepha - from cephalus) so maybe they are supposed to look like this? Just a thought, Lee.
Lee Fairclough
Matt Wilson
Member
Joined: 25 May 2003
No. of posts: 38


View other posts by Matt Wilson
Posted: 02 Jun 2003

Lee,

Other Anguis on Cephalonia, Ithaca and s.Greece are same in size and shape to UK fragilis, but with vivid lines along flanks. Called 'cephallonica' after Cephalonia. Anguis and Ophisaurus can bite, but only if physically being hurt by something, in this case a cat. As if a human picks one up, a Anguis will never bite, unless one causes it pain, and even them probably won't bite.


Matthew Wilson

Tony Phelps
Forum Specialist
Joined: 09 Mar 2003
No. of posts: 575


View other posts by Tony Phelps
Posted: 02 Jun 2003

I have a male slow worm at one of my smooth snake/adder sites has been under the same tin for 11years. He is a biggy with some blue spotting;

SVL 24cm (measured 1999) wt 24g about as thick as a mans thumb, and this individual regularly gives me a nip when I pick him up.

Also many years ago in the 1970's did a reptile survey of Steep Holm in the Bristol Channel. The slow worms there are huge hardly any with full tails as the island is stuffed with herring gulls and they do take them. One individual was so impressive, 30cm, we sent it to the NHM but it was fragilis so nothing exciting other than exceptional size.

Tony


Jeroen
Senior Member
Joined: 03 Nov 2004
No. of posts: 121


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Posted: 16 Jun 2005
Seems this one just went unresolved? This has to be Anguis cephallonica because (1) there's no fragilis around on Cephalonnia and (2) the longer snout (literally) points towards cephallonica too and (3) furthermore the coloration is very similar to the ones I have seen on the Peloponnese and in pictures. But I guess you know that for a while now, Matt ;-)
Jeroen Speybroeck
http://www.hylawerkgroep.be/jeroen/
Matt Wilson
Member
Joined: 25 May 2003
No. of posts: 38


View other posts by Matt Wilson
Posted: 17 Jun 2005
Hi Jeroen,

It was a couple of years ago now when i wrote this! Since then have seen quite a few Anguis cephallonica on Kefallinia and Zakynthos, although non of the animals i have seen have quite had that head proportion although the heads on most have been visibly longer than those of Anguis fragilis.

Cheers anyway,
Matthew Wilson

- Anguis cephallonica????????

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