It has been identified as a white-tailed bipod, which has rarely been found underground due to its long years of invisibility
Precious image of the white-tailed bipod taken by the rangers of the 90,000 Hills Conservation Area (Courtesy of the 90,000 Hills Reserve)
(Reporter Ling Jianyi correspondent Jiang Linlin) resembles an earthworm, with scales and feet, is it not a "dragon" of folklore? Recently, Qin Guolu, a ranger at the Management Center of Jiuwanshan National Nature Reserve in Guangxi, and colleagues found an "earthworm" covered in scales. The mysterious creature was identified as a white-tailed bipod. Because the white-tailed bipedal lizard has been invisible underground for many years, it is rarely found by humans, which can be described as "the dragon sees the head but does not see the tail".
Recently, qin Guolu, a ranger from the management center of The Jiuwanshan National Nature Reserve in Guangxi, and his colleagues patrolled to the experimental area of the reserve, and found an "earthworm" covered with scales. At first glance, Qin Guolu thought that this creature was a hooked blind snake. The hook-blind snake is the smallest snake in the world, only the size of an earthworm, but like a snake, its body is covered with scales. He quickly took a picture, and when he wanted to take a few more photos, the "mini snake" burrowed into the grass and disappeared suddenly.
After a while, Tan Fei, head of the monitoring section of the Jiuwanshan Nature Reserve Management Center, saw the picture on the resource patrol platform of the reserve. At first, he also thought it was a hook blind snake, but after zooming in on the photo and carefully identifying it, he found that the creature in the photo was different from the hook blind snake, and there was a white "jade ring" on the tail. What is the new record of animals? He hastened to consult Xie Weiliang, an external amphibian and reptile enthusiast. At first, Xie Weiliang also thought it was a hooked blind snake, but he was not sure, so he hurriedly contacted Qi Shuo, an amphibian and reptile scholar at Sun Yat-sen University.
The "mysterious" creature in the photo was identified as a white-tailed bipod. The white-tailed bipedal lizard is a vulnerable animal on the Red List of Vertebrates of China, resembling an earthworm, covered with tile-like round scales, with jade white spots at the end of the tail, and a pair of short, flattened fin-like hind limbs in the male. Because the white-tailed bipedal lizard has been invisible underground for many years, it is rarely found by humans, which can be described as "the dragon sees the head but does not see the tail". So far, few people in China have seen live animals in the wild, and very few people have taken photos of its activities in the wild. Very few specimens have been found in the animals of this family, and biological data are extremely scarce.
Domestic records of the white-tailed bipod are few. In May 1960, the white-tailed bipedal lizard was found on the mountain road of Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County, and when it was found, it was dead, its head was slightly injured, and its tail was broken on the side of the road; in June 1960, it was found on the mountain road on the outskirts of Longsheng Autonomous County, with a similar state of activity to that of a blind snake, swinging rapidly from side to side, and opening its mouth to bite when caught. Like geckos, they have the ability to escape with a broken tail, and the jade white spots on the tail are a seductive color. When the hidden stone is turned over, it immediately raises its tail upwards, and the white tail contrasts sharply with the dark background around it, which is easy to attract the attention of the enemy, lure the enemy to peck at the tail, and it breaks the tail and quickly escapes.
In recent years, with the continuous and effective development of the protection of Jiuwanshan, the ecological environment of the reserve has become better and better, and many "mysterious" animals and plants have frequently appeared. In April 2019, the Highly Camouflaged and "Heart-Changing" Sino-Vietnamese Lip Orchid was discovered; in March 2020, the "Ghost Orchid" 90,000 Mountain Tongue Lip Orchid was discovered, and many other national second-level protected birds and insects such as the Pale-throated Wren, the Yangcai Arm Golden Turtle, and the Gecai Arm Golden Turtle were found in Guangxi. According to statistics, since 2019, 3 new plant species, 3 new plant species, and 14 new animal records have been added in the Jiuwanshan Nature Reserve.
Source: Nanning Evening News