The head is very small and not distinct from the neck, a usual feature in burrowing snakes and lizards.
Among the burrowing and tubicolous forms it is not uncommon for the body to be distinguishable into two or more regions; a "thorax," for example, is sharply marked off from an "abdomen" in the Sabellids.
It is of nocturnal and burrowing habits, and feeds on decomposed animal substances, larvae and termites.
The larvae are stout and soft-skinned, with short legs in correlation with their burrowing habit.
The majority are distinguished from snakes by the possession of two pairs of limbs, of external ear-openings and movable eyelids, but since in not a few of the burrowing, snake-shaped lizards these characters give way entirely, it is well-nigh impossible to find a diagnosis which should be absolutely sufficient for the distinction between lizards and snakes.
