Duméril's fringed finger lizard

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Duméril's fringed finger lizard
left two Dumérils fringed lizards, right two Acanthodactylus inornatus aureus

left two Dumérils fringed lizards, right two Acanthodactylus inornatus aureus

Systematics
Superordinate : Scale lizards (Lepidosauria)
Order : Scale reptiles (Squamata)
Family : Real lizards (Lacertidae)
Subfamily : Lacertinae
Genre : Fringed lizards ( Acanthodactylus )
Type : Duméril's fringed finger lizard
Scientific name
Acanthodactylus dumerili
( Milne-Edwards , 1829)

Duméril's fringed lizard ( Acanthodactylus dumerili , sometimes also Acanthodactylus dumerilii ) is a species of the genus fringed lizard and is assigned to the Acanthodactylus scutellatus species group. It is common in the western and central Sahara .

features

As with many fringed lizards, the overall appearance is yellow-brown in color and has a gracefully elongated body with strikingly long fingers with fringed scales ("fringed scales"), which give the genus its name. The differentiation of Acanthodactylus longipes is based on the color, because Duméril's fringed lizard always has contrasting dark brown or black spots, distributed over the entire length of its back.

Habitat and distribution area

The typical habitat of Duméril's fringed lizard is mainly in arid desert areas in Algeria , Libya , Morocco , Mauritania , Senegal , Tunisia and the Western Sahara . It occurs together with Acanthodactylus longipes in Erg Chebbi and the M'hamid area in southern Morocco . However, these two closely related species prefer different habitats. Duméril's fringed lizard avoids the vegetation-free desert and occurs mainly in the slightly overgrown dune edge areas with bushes and half- grass ( Stipa tenacissima ) or lives on solid ground with sparse vegetation. It digs its housing between the roots of this vegetation.

Nutrition and ecology

Silver ants

Duméril's fringed lizard feeds on insects that it prey upon. These include above all silver ants . They developed particularly large soldiers with saber-like mandibles to defend against this particular threat. If the lizard cannot dig up its underground nest, it will be happy to build its den near it in order to benefit from the productivity of the ant nest over a longer period of time. The silver ants, for their part, have special scouts who observe the behavior of the fringed-fingered lizard and alert the workers in the nest as soon as the lizard has visited its burrow to protect itself from the heat of the sun. Immediately afterwards, the ants swarm out to collect food.

Grasshoppers

Occasional swarms of locusts are used by Duméril's fringed lizard as a source of food. However, some species of locust, such as the desert locust, prefer to eat plants such as Egyptian henbane , which contain toxins , and accumulate them in their bodies. With a higher population density they develop a warning coloration , in which their coloration is noticeably intensified in order to indicate their potential toxicity. Duméril's fringed lizards avoid desert locusts with this striking color.

Threat situation

The population density is high in places, there is no risk ( least concern ).

literature

  • U. Schlüter: Fringed finger lizards (Acanthodactylus) in nature and in the terrarium. Part 5b: The Acanthodactylus scutellatus group. In: Reptilia , 15, No. 4, 2010, pp. 62-66.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i www.lacerta.de: Acanthodactylus dumerili (MILNE-EDWARDS, 1829) , accessed on August 15, 2015.
  2. ↑ Acanthodactylus dumerili in The Reptile Database ; accessed on August 15, 2015.
  3. ^ A. Salvador: A revision of the lizards of the genus Acanthodactylus (Sauria: Lacertidae). In: Bonner Zoologische Monographien, Bonn , 16, 1982, pp. 1–167.
  4. ↑ P.-A. Crochet, P. Geniez, I. Ineich: A multivariate analysis of the fringe-toed lizards of the Acanthodactylus scutellatus group (Squamata: Lacertidae): systematic and biogeographical implications. In: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society , 137, 2003, pp. 117-155.
  5. ↑ U. Schlüter: Fringed lizards (Acanthodactylus) in nature and in the terrarium. Part 5b: The Acanthodactylus scutellatus group. In: Reptilia , 15, No. 4, 2010, pp. 62-66.
  6. ↑ a b c d e Morocco herps.com: Lagartija de Merzouga , accessed on August 15, 2015.
  7. ↑ DJ Harris, MA Carretero, JC Brito, A. Kaliotzopoulou, C. Pinho, A. Perera, R. Vasconcelos, M. Barata, D. Barbosa, S. Carvalho, MM Fonseca, G. Perez-Lanuza, C. Rato : Data on the distribution of the terrestrial herpetofauna of Morocco: records from 2001-2006. In: Herpetological Bulletin , 103, 2008, pp. 19-28.
  8. ^ S. Nouira, CP Blanc: Distribution spatiale des Lacertides (Sauria, Reptilia) en Tunisie; caractéristiques des biotopes et rôle des facteurs écologiques - Geographic distribution of Lacertids (Sauria, Reptilia) in Tunisia; Biotope characteristics and influence of ecological factors. In: Ecologia Mediterranea , 29, No. 1, 2003, pp. 71-86.
  9. ↑ Mathieu Molet, Vincent Maicher, Christian Peeters: Bigger helpers in the ant Cataglyphis bombycina: increased worker polymorphism or novel soldier caste ?. In: PLOSone 2014, e84929, doi : 10.1371 / journal.pone.0084929 .
  10. ^ AC Marsh, R. Wehner, S. Wehner: Desert ants on a thermal tight rope. In: Nature Publishing Group , 357, 1992, pp. 586-587.
  11. ^ P. Gullen: The Insects: An Outline of Entomology. Blackwell Publishing, 2005, p. 160.
  12. ^ Nigel R. Andrew, John S. Terblanche: The response of insects to climate change . In: Jim Salinger: From Living in a Warmer World . Chapter 3, Bateman, 2013, pp. 38-49.
  13. ^ Gregory A. Sword, Stephen J. Simpson, Ould Taleb M. El Hadi, Hans Wilps: Density-dependent aposematism in the desert locust. In: Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 267, No. 1438, 2000, pp. 63-68, doi: 10.1098 / rspb.2000.0967 (full text).

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