See post 317 above for links to articles about amphisbaeniae. Some are legless and look like big worms, some only have forelegs.
Why do all the other apes have the same defect as we do in one of the genes necessary for ascorbic acid synthesis?
God (to Adam and Eve): So you like fruit eh?! Well I'll fix it so you have to eat it every day! [zap!]
Oh, sorry about that Mr. Ape...
God: (To Serpent). Thou Deceiver! Wriggle in the dust forever... ZAP!.... Oh, sorry Flipper, I didn't see you there standing behind the serpent; best get into the water pronto.
I am grateful for the link. I did not know of the amphisbenids. In fact, I had in mind the sister family Anguidae, which contains the Slow Worm of Europe, and the misnamed glass snakes (glass lizards), which we have down here in Florida.
In fact, as I read the modern reclassification of the Order Squamata, it appears the Anguids and the Amphisbenids may have evolved leglesness convergently. Or translated into Genesis-ese, both were smitten by the Lord along with the true snakes.
The punishment of the glass lizards seems particularly unfair.They are harmless, bug-devouring critters, who, if they were to tempt anyone with anything, would probably try a tasty cricket.