NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Peloponnese Slow Worm
Anguis cephallonica Werner, 1894
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Anguis cephallonica, the Peloponnese slow worm, is a species of legless lizard in the family Anguidae endemic to Greece. It is found in the Peloponnese and islands of Cephalonia, Ithaca, and Zakynthos in the Ionian Sea, at elevations of up to 1,340 m. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, temperate shrubland, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, temperate grassland, arable land, pastureland, plantations, and rural gardens. The species can be distinguished from all other slow worms by the greater number of scale rows around the body and the distinctive color pattern on its side. Peloponnese slow worms give birth to live litters of 3–26 young. They are listed as being a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List.
Wikipedia contributors, Peloponnese slow worm; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:33:37.564335+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Anguis cephallonica Werner, 1894
- Name authority
- Werner, 1894
- Common name
- Peloponnese Slow Worm
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Anguidae
- Genus
- Anguis
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderAutarchoglossa
- familyAnguidae
- subfamilyAnguinae
- genusAnguis
- speciesAnguis cephallonica Werner, 1894
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Anguis. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Italian Slow WormAnguis veronensis Pollini, 1818 | AnguidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Slow WormAnguis fragilis Linnaeus, 1758 | AnguidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Greek Slow WormAnguis graeca Bedriaga, 1881 | AnguidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Slow WormAnguis colchica (Nordmann, 1840) | AnguidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Anguis fragilis peloponnesiacus Stepanek, 1937 Stepanek, 1937 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Anguis&species=cephallonica Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:66QH3. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.