# Black legless lizard (*Anniella pulchra*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-legless-lizard  
Data as of: 2026-11-14

The black legless lizard (Anniella pulchra) is a species in the family Anguidae, order Squamata. Recorded adults weigh 3.98 g to 4.34 g and reach 14.4 cm in length.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 3.98 g – 4.34 g |
| Length | 13.2 cm – 14.4 cm |
| Lifespan | Not recorded |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 11.9 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | shrubland, woodland |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 – 4 |
| Age at maturity | 2 years – 3 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 0.5 – 1 |
| Reproduction | Live birth |
| Active | Day and night (cathemeral) |
| Resting metabolic rate | 1.82 mW – 2.97 mW |
| Conservation status | Not recorded |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Recorded prey and predators

 Recorded predators: Ring-necked snake (*Diadophis punctatus*). Each pair is recorded by at least two datasets compiled by Global Biotic Interactions (https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/, CC0 1.0).

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Reptilia
- order: Squamata
- family: Anguidae
- genus: Anniella
- species: *Anniella pulchra* Gray, 1852

Synonyms: *Anniella nigra*, *Anniella nigra argentea*, *Anniella nigra nigra*, *Anniella pulchra argentea*, *Anniella pulchra nigra*, *Anniella pulchra pulchra*, *Anniella texana*

## Common questions

### How big is the black legless lizard?

An adult black legless lizard weighs 3.98 g – 4.34 g and measures 13.2 cm – 14.4 cm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

### What kind of animal is the black legless lizard?

The black legless lizard (Anniella pulchra) belongs to the family Anguidae in the order Squamata.

### What eats the black legless lizard?

Animals recorded preying on the black legless lizard include ring-necked snake. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AnimalTraits: a curated animal trait database for body mass, metabolic rate and brain size](https://animaltraits.org/), CC0 1.0, 1.0.7. Herberstein, M.E., McLean, D.J., Lowe, E. et al. (2022) AnimalTraits: a curated animal trait database for body mass, metabolic rate and brain size. Scientific Data 9: 265. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-022-01364-9. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6468938
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI): interpreted data products](https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org/), CC0 1.0, 0.11. Poelen, J.H., Simons, J.D. & Mungall, C.J. (2014) Global Biotic Interactions: an open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics 24: 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.08.005. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22691479, with each record's original reference.
- [ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4), CC BY 4.0, v1-2. Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4
- [SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b), CC0 1.0, 1.0-dryad-v5. Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b

Cite as: Black legless lizard (Anniella pulchra). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/black-legless-lizard