Relatively small, these lizards rely on running as their primary form of movement and, interestingly, exhibit death-feigning behavior, which aids in protection from potential predators.

Namely, from Ovid's Metamorphoses narrative poem, Iphis, the daughter of Telethusa and Ligdus, was raised as a man by her mother such that her true gender could be hidden from her father, who wanted a son to carry on their family's farming legacy.

[4][6] Adult glossy shade lizards exhibit sexual dichromatism as they appear antique-brown to dark yellow on their dorsal surface.

I. elegans has a vestigial inner finger, which means that it poses no true function and just exists as part of the lizard's body.

[4] Although this species covers a large geographical range across the Amazon rainforest, Iphisa mostly has a broadly conserved external morphology.

[4] For a long time, Iphisa has been known to inhabit the amazon basins of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Columbia, Brazil, and Guiana Shield.

Research has confirmed the presence of Iphisa in 10 additional locations in the North and Southwest of the state of Mato Grosso.

[4] Being at a stable population state can be viewed positively since there are no harsh or immediate threats that threaten the status of the species or risk it going extinct.

[12] Nevertheless, in contrast to these drier habitats, the glossy shade lizard can find its home in tropical rainforests that are either completely undisturbed or moderately disturbed.

[3] An ecomorphological guild is a group of organisms that adapt to similar environments and ecological roles in nature, thereby causing them to share morphological traits.

[13] A vital part of the glossy shade lizard's habitat consists of leaf litter, which is a combination of leaves, twigs, and fallen bark that compose healthy soil.

[14] Given the relatively small size of I. elegans, it is able to hide and take shelter among leaf litter, making this part of the lizard's habitat very advantageous.

[3] The small size of the glossy shade lizard aids can have benefits for the predators as it makes it easier to grab and kill the prey.

Upon noticing any disturbance in their surrounding environment, I. elegans is able to quickly dart into leaf litter and seek hiding and protection there.

This does not satisfy the cost-benefit analysis for the hawk, as it is more costly to expend wasteful energy as there is no benefit of prey since the animal is already "dead."

The image on the right depicts the death-feigning posture of a male glossy shade lizard because the abdomen is orange in color.