If you keep up with the news in herpetology (we're sure you already knew this, but herpetology is the study of reptiles and amphibians), you might learn, every so often, about the discovery of a new legless lizard.

But — wait a second — wouldn't that be called a snake ? Not so, as we'll soon learn; the snake vs. legless lizard distinction is one worth knowing about.

Legless Lizards and Snakes Aren't Even Closely Related

In fact, legless lizards and snakes are two entirely different animals from separate evolutionary lines. Legless lizards evolved from the legged lizards with which most of us are familiar; legless snakes evolved from four-legged snakes that most of us have never seen.

But the two do look an awful lot alike. Both have long, slender, cylindrical bodies, scaly exteri

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