Lacertidae
| Lacertids |
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|---|---|
| File:Jaszczurka-Lacerta agilis.jpg | |
| Sand lizard | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Superfamily: | Lacertoidea |
| Family: | Lacertidae Oppel, 1811 |
| Type species | |
| Lacerta agilis Linnaeus, 1758
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| Subgroups | |
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See text |
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The Lacertidae are the family of the wall lizards, true lizards, or sometimes simply lacertas, which are native to Europe, Africa, and Asia. The group includes the genus Lacerta, which contains some of the most commonly seen lizard species in Europe. It is a diverse family with hundreds of species in 39 genera.
Habitat
The European and Mediterranean species live mainly in forest and scrub habitats.[1] Eremias and Ophisops species replace these in the grassland and desert habitats of Asia. African species usually live in rocky, arid areas. Holaspis is one of the few arboreal lacertids, and its single species, Holaspis guentheri, is a glider (although apparently a poor one), using its broad tail and flattened body as an aerofoil.[2]
Description
Lacertids are small or medium-sized lizards. Most species are less than 9 cm long, excluding the tail, although the largest living species, Gallotia stehlini, reaches 46 cm, and some extinct forms were larger still. They are primarily insectivorous.[1] An exception is Meroles anchietae, one of the few wall lizards that regularly eats seeds – an appropriate food for a lizard of the harsh Namib Desert.
Lacertids are remarkably similar in form, with slender bodies and long tails, but have highly varied patterns and colours, even within the same species. Their scales are large on the head, which often also has osteoderms, small and granular on the back, and rectangular on the underside. Most species are sexually dimorphic, with the males and females having different patterns.[1]
At least eight species from the Caucasus are parthenogenetic,[3][4] and three species give birth to live young, including the viviparous lizard, Zootoca vivipara.[1]
Classification
The classification into subfamilies and tribes below follows one presented by Arnold et al., 2007, based on their phylogenetic analysis.[5]
Family Lacertidae
- Subfamily Gallotiinae
- Genus Gallotia (eight species)
- Genus Psammodromus (six species)
- Subfamily Lacertinae
- Tribe Eremiadini
- Genus Acanthodactylus (40 species)
- Genus Adolfus (four species)
- Genus Atlantolacerta
- Genus Australolacerta (two species)
- Genus Congolacerta (two species)
- Genus Eremias (29 species)
- Genus Gastropholis
- Genus Heliobolus
- Genus Holaspis
- Genus Ichnotropis
- Genus Latastia (10 species)
- Genus Meroles (seven species)
- Genus Mesalina (13 species)
- Genus Nucras (eight species)
- Genus Ophisops (eight species)
- Genus Pedioplanis (10 species)
- Genus Philochortus
- Genus Poromera
- Genus Pseuderemias
- Genus Scapteira
- Genus Tropidosaura
- Tribe Lacertini
- Genus Algyroides (five species)
- Genus Anatololacerta
- Genus Dalmatolacerta
- Genus Darevskia (22 species)
- Genus Dinarolacerta
- Genus Hellenolacerta
- Genus Iberolacerta
- Genus Iranolacerta
- Genus Lacerta (40 species)
- Genus Parvilacerta
- Genus Phoenicolacerta
- Genus Podarcis
- Genus Scelarcis
- Genus Takydromus
- Genus Timon (four species)
- Genus Zootoca
- Tribe Eremiadini
External links
References
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Wikispecies has information related to: Lacertidae |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lacertidae. |
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Zug et al. 2001[full citation needed]
- ↑ Darevskii IS. 1967. Rock lizards of the Caucasus: systematics, ecology and phylogenesis of the polymorphic groups of Caucasian rock lizards of the subgenus Archaeolacerta. Nauka: Leningrad [in Russian: English translation published by the Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre, New Delhi, 1978].
- ↑ Tarkhnishvili DN (2012) Evolutionary History, Habitats, Diversification, and Speciation in Caucasian Rock Lizards. In: Advances in Zoology Research, Volume 2 (ed. Jenkins OP), Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge (NY), p.79-120
- ↑ Arnold, E.N., Arribas, O. and Carranza, S. (2007). "Systematics of the Palaearctic and Oriental lizard tribe Lacertini. (Squamata: Lacertidae: Lacertinae), with descriptions of eight new genera." Zootaxa, 1430: 86 pp.
