Editing Mexican blind lizard (section)

==Ecology and natural history==
[[File:Anelytropsis papillosus, Mexican Blind Lizard, Tamaulipas.jpg|left|thumb|''Anelytropsis papillosus'', municipality of [[Tula, Tamaulipas]] (15 Aug 2004).]]
Very little information has been published on the ecology and natural history of this rare and enigmatic species.<ref name="Valdez-Villavicencio et al. (2016)" /> [[Hobart M. Smith]] reported finding two specimens in rotten logs near ant nests and noted they were "apparently" feeding on termites or ants in the logs.<ref name="Smith (1935)">Smith, Hobart  M.  1935. ''Miscellaneous notes on Mexican  lizards.'' University of Kansas Science Bulletin 22: 146.</ref>

Collector's accounts of finding two specimens in [[San Luis Potosí]], on separate occasions, stated that  both lizards intensely bit the collectors fingers continuously for about three or four minutes when first handled. Then each lizard engaged in [[thanatosis]] (death feigning behavior), at which time the lizards were relaxed but slightly rigid with their mouths half open, one for about two or three minutes, the other for a briefer length of time but subsequently, it suddenly lashed its body and [[Autotomy|autotomized]] about half of its tail.<ref name="Torres-Cervantes et al. (2004)">Torres-Cervantes, Ricardo J., Xóchitl Hernándex-Ibarra, and Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista. 2004. ''Anelytropsis papillosus (Mexican Blind Lizard), Death Feigning and Autotomy.'' Herpetological Review 35(4): 384 p.</ref>

===Habitat===
[[File:Chihuahua Desert SW of Tula, Municipality of Tula, Tamaulipas, Mexico (24 September 2003).jpg|thumb|Chihuahua Desert scrub flats, Municipality of [[Tula, Tamaulipas]] (24 Sept 2003)]]
Locality records for the [[fossorial]] ''Anelytropsis papillosus'' do not correlate to surface vegetation communities or typical [[biogeographic]] patterns.<ref name="Dixon and Lemos Espinal (2010)">Dixon, James R. and Julio A. Lemos Espinal. 2010. ''Amphibians and Reptiles of the State of Querétaro, Mexico.'' Published jointly by Texas A&M University, College Station, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and CONABIO. xiv, 428 pp. [pages 211-212] {{ISBN|978-607-7607-22-9}}</ref> It has been reported from a remarkably wide spectrum of habitats, from [[Chihuahuan Desert]] scrub flats on the [[Mexican Plateau]], to [[cloud forest]] in the [[Sierra Madre Oriental]] ([[El Cielo Biosphere Reserve]]), and [[tropical deciduous forest]] on the [[coastal plain]] in [[Tamaulipas]].<ref name="Farr et al. (2007)">Farr, William L., Pablo A. Lavin-Murcio, and David Lazcano.  2007. ''New distributional records for amphibian and reptiles from the state of  Tamaulipas, México.'' Herpetological Review 38(2): 230.</ref><ref name="Garcia-Padilla and Farr (2010)">Garcia-Padilla, Elí, and William L. Farr. 2010. ''Anelytropsis papillosus (Mexican Blind Lizard) México: Tamaulipas.'' Herpetological Review 41(4); 511</ref> Pine -oak forest, tropical thorn forest, and semiarid deciduous vegetation have also been identified as collecting sites.<ref name="Campbell (1974)" /><ref name="Axtell (1958)">Axtell, Ralph W. 1958. ''A northward range extension for the lizard Anelytropsis papillosis, with some notes on the distribution and habits of several other Mexican lizards.''  Herpetologica 14(4): 189–191.</ref> It has been found under boulders, rocks, and stones, under fallen logs, burrowing in rotten logs, and under dead yucca trees.<ref name="Smith (1935)" /><ref name="Mendoza-Quijano et al. (1993)">Mendoza-Quijano, Fernando, Efrín Hernández Garcia, and Walter Schmidt Ballardo. 1993. ''Anelytropsis papillosus (Mexican Blind Lizard) México: Hidalgo.'' Herpetological Review 24(2): 66 p.</ref><ref name="Torres-Cervantes et al. (2004)" /> The distribution of the species falls mostly within the Mexican ecoregions of the tropical [[Veracruz moist forests]], the [[Sierra Madre Oriental pine–oak forests]], and southwestern portions of the [[Meseta Central matorral]].