Editing Common slow worm (section)

== Physical traits ==
[[File:Blindschleiche Anguis fragilis.jpg|left|thumb|Slow worm in Germany]]
Slow worms have an elongated body with a circular cross-section without limbs and reach a maximum length of up to 57.5&nbsp;cm.<ref>[[Wolfgang Böhme (zoologist)|Wolfgang Böhme]]: ''A record-sized specimen of the western slow worm (Anguis fragilis).'' In: ''Zeitschrift für Feldherpetologie.'' Bd. 19, Nr. 1, 2012, {{ISSN|0946-7998}}, S. 117–118.</ref> Most adult animals are between 40 and 45&nbsp;cm long, with up to 22&nbsp;cm on the head and trunk section and the rest on the tail.<ref name="Glandt2015">Dieter Glandt: ''Die Amphibien und Reptilien Europas. Alle Arten im Porträt.'' Quelle & Meyer Verlag, Wiebelsheim 2015, {{ISBN|978-3-494-01581-1}}, S. 322–327.</ref> There is no visible neck. The tail, which ends in a horny tip, is continuous with the trunk and is often slightly longer. Slow worms exhibit [[caudal autotomy]], the severing of the tail when it is pulled by predators.<ref>{{cite journal| title=Tail regeneration in the lizards ''Anguis fragilis'' and ''Lacerta dugesii''| date=1967| last1=Bryant| first1=Susan V.| last2=Bellairs| first2=A. d'A.| journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society of London| volume=46| issue=310| pages=297–305| doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.1967.tb00510.x| url=https://www.lacerta.de/AF/Bibliografie/BIB_623.pdf}}</ref> When regrown, the tail grows back only to a short stub, probably because loss of the tail does not sufficiently affect the species' locomotion, foraging, and defence abilities to necessitate full and rapid regeneration.<ref>{{cite journal| date=2021| last1=Barr| first1=J. I.| last2=Boisvert| first2=C. A.| last3=Bateman| first3=P. W.| title=At what cost? Trade-offs and influences on energetic investment in tail regeneration in lizards following autotomy| journal=Journal of Developmental Biology| volume=9| issue=4| page=53| doi=10.3390/jdb9040053| doi-access=free| pmid=34940500| pmc=8709428}}</ref>

The skin surface consists of smooth, round to hexagonal scales that do not overlap and are of approximately the same shape on the dorsal and ventral sides of the body. There are several longitudinal rows running along the underside. In total, the trunk has 125 to 150 transverse scale rows and the tail has another 130 to 160 rows. Beneath the scales are bony plates ([[osteoderm]]s), causing slow worms to crawl much more stiffly and clumsily than snakes. The scales on the head are similar to those of snakes. The ear openings are usually completely hidden under the scales. The relatively small eyes have movable, closable eyelids (these are fused in snakes) and round pupils. The rather short tongue is broad, bilobed, and does not end in fine points. To lick, i.e. to absorb odorous substances, slow worms have to open their mouths slightly, as they lack the gap in the upper lip that snakes possess. The pointed, sometimes loosely fixed teeth are curved backwards; there are 7 to 9 teeth in the premaxilla, 10 to 12 in the maxilla, and 14 to 16 in the lower jaw.<ref name="Günther&Völkl1996">Rainer Günther, Wolfgang Völkl: ''Blindschleiche – Anguis fragilis Linnaeus, 1758.'' In: Rainer Günther (Hrsg.): ''Die Amphibien und Reptilien Deutschlands.'' Gustav Fischer, Jena u. a. 1996, {{ISBN|3-437-35016-1}}, S. 617–631.</ref>

===Size and longevity===
Adult slow worms grow to a length of approximately 50&nbsp;cm (20"), and are known for their exceptionally long lives; the slow worm may be the longest-living lizard, living about 30 years in the wild and up to at least 54 years in captivity (this record is held by a male slow worm that lived at the [[Copenhagen Zoo]] from 1892 until 1946, the age when first obtained is unknown).<ref>{{cite web |last=Smith |first=Malcolm |date=1951 |title=The British Amphibians and Reptiles |url=http://www.newnaturalists.com/product/9780007308156/The+British+Amphibians+and+Reptiles |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916052705/http://www.newnaturalists.com/product/9780007308156/The+British+Amphibians+and+Reptiles |archive-date=2017-09-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Slow Worm |url=http://www.fourmilab.ch/images/animal_magnetism/notasnake.html}}</ref> The female often has a stripe along the spine and dark sides, while the male may have blue spots dorsally. Juveniles of both sexes are gold with dark brown bellies and sides with a dark stripe along the spine.[[File:20130505-slow worms-014-wiki©CD.jpg|thumb|Close-up of the head of a slow worm]]