“You’re right, this snake has legs,” biologist and snake specialist Enrique Abrajao jokes in a video posted to his social media. The animal in question went viral online, and subscribers questioned the biologist about the veracity of the video.

An animal that looks like a snake has legs – Photo: Reproduction / Internet / ND

The expert explains that the animal is popularly known as a snake, but in fact it is a lizard. Among the evidence that demonstrates the difference between species, the biologist highlights the shape of the tongue and eyes.

That’s because snakes don’t blink, they just have a film that covers their eyes, the biologist notes. In addition, they have a forked tongue. Whereas some lizards blink and their tongue is a single line, as shown in the video.

“It’s not a snake, a snake is some kind of common name, like a blind snake, for example, an animal that is not a snake, just because it has the shape of a snake,” the biologist explains.

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A post published by biologist Enrique (@biologohenrique)