Snake-Eyed Lizard

Ophisops elegans

A fused-eyelid lacertid of the southeast — sporadic; O. elegans s.l. may be split.

Southeast Georgia — sporadicRisk to humansHarmless

At a glance

Key facts in one look

Habitat

SE — sporadic

Venom

None — harmless

Family

Lacertidae

Checklist

Confirmed

Overview

What is Snake-Eyed Lizard

The snake-eyed lizard (Ophisops elegans) is a lacertid with fused eyelids. Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 list it as biologically confirmed, with a broad western Asian range. It is found sporadically in southeast Georgia. The subspecies is O. e. elegans. NCBI GenBank sequences are highly divergent — taxonomy of O. elegans sensu lato may be revised. Figure and barcodes are from Taribana, Dedoplistskaro district. It is harmless to people.

Last updated 24 August 2026

Gallery

Snake-Eyed Lizard in photos

Distribution

Where Snake-Eyed Lizard lives in Georgia

Highlighted regions show where this species has been recorded.

Identification

How to identify Snake-Eyed Lizard

A lacertid with fused eyelids. Compare it with the tiny snake-eyed skink — a different family.

01
Fused eyelids — the name “snake-eyed”.
02
A lacertid, not a skink; limbs fully developed.
03
Sporadic in the southeast.
04
Harmless to people.

Biology

Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation

Habitat and range

Southeast Georgia, sporadically. Figure and barcodes: Dedoplistskaro district, Taribana.

Diet

Small invertebrates; the checklist does not specify diet.

Behavior

A diurnal, fast lizard of open ground. The “snake eye” comes from fused eyelids — it is not the skink Ablepharus.

Conservation

Biologically confirmed in the checklist. The discussion notes sequences from different parts of the range differ by more than 10%. No global IUCN category is given on this page.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Short answers to the most important questions about Snake-Eyed Lizard.

Yes. Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026: sporadically in the southeast. Figure and barcodes are from Taribana (Dedoplistskaro).

Harmless. It has no venom.

The eyelids are fused, so the eye looks like a snake’s. It is not a snake.

Ablepharus is a tiny skink with smooth scales. Ophisops is a larger lacertid of open ground.

References

Sources

Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026 — Annotated checklist of Georgia's amphibians and reptiles
Iankoshvili & Tarkhnishvili 2021 — Georgian herpetofauna records cited in Tarkhnishvili et al. 2026
The Reptile Database

Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.

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