Anguis veronensis
Silhouette: Steven Traver · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
Anguis veronensis, commonly known as the Italian slow worm, is a European lizard species in the family Anguidae. The slow worm is distributed throughout Italy and in southeastern part of France. A. veronensis got its first scientific description in 1818, when it was described by Italian naturalist Ciro Polinni, and named after the Italian city Verona, where specimens were found. The synonymous species name Anguis cinerea (cinereus) is derived from the Latin word cinereus meaning ash-grey, even though typical gray colour is a common feature of the whole genus Anguis, especially the similar common slow worm, Anguis fragilis.
In the past, slow worms from the Italian Peninsula were not distinguished from other European slow worms; they were usually perceived as conspecifics of Anguis fragilis. A relatively long independent evolutionary history and distinct identity of both morphological and genetic features led to the species resurrection in 2013 under the synonymous scientific name Anguis cinerea. Following the rules of International Code of Zoological Nomenclature about priority naming the slow worm was renamed to the oldest available name for the same taxon... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
More parks will be added in future updates.
No species of the same family or order lives in Mercantour National Park, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report an Italian Slow Worm sighting in Mercantour National Park on a given day, based on 19 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 5th most-seen of the 11 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report an Italian Slow Worm in Mercantour National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January and November, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Italian Slow Worm sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Mercantour National Park, in our data
Mercantour National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Italian Slow Worm sightings: about 30% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Italian Slow Worm is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Mercantour National Park (19 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
