Legless lizard elitecopedia. This is not a snake

In early 2008, in just one month of scouring
the savanna of central Brazil, scientists
discovered 14 new species. One of those
new species was a type of legless lizard no
one knew existed. A legless lizard?
Wouldn't that be called a snake?
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Nope -- they're 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;
forked tongues; scaly exteriors and can
often be found slithering through sand.
And then, of course, there's the
leglessness. It's tough for the casual
observer to tell them apart. It's not
impossible, though.
In this article, we'll find out what makes a
legless lizard a lizard instead of a snake,
why it's often called a " glass lizard ," and
how you might be able to distinguish this
lizard from a snake the next time you find
yourself looking at a long, slithery, legless
reptile. It's not unlikely that you'd come
into contact with one since they live all over
the world, on every continent except
Antarctica, and can thrive in all sorts of
climates -- cool, hot, wet and dry. They're
pretty widespread throughout the United
States, especially in the Southeast and
parts of the Midwest, Texas and California.
So let's say you're out hiking and you come
across a snake-looking creature, anywhere
from 10 inches (25 cm) to 4 feet (122 cm)
long. It has the typical reptile coloring, tan
or brown, green, bronze or yellowish, and
maybe it sports a dark stripe along its back.
Is it a snake or a legless lizard?