Belt tails

This article deals with the belt tail family, for the genus of the same name, see Cordylus .

Belt tails
Giant Belt Tail ( Smaug giganteus )
Systematics
without rank: Amniotes (Amniota) without rank: Sauropsida Superordinate : Scale lizards (Lepidosauria) Order : Scale reptiles (Squamata) without rank: Scincomorpha (Scincoidea) Family : Belt tails
Scientific name
Cordylidae
Fitzinger , 1826

The Girdle (Cordylidae), also Wirtelschweife or belt lizards are a family of lizards , with over 60 species found in southern Africa.

features

Belt tails are strongly built, often small lizards with a head-trunk length of mostly 5 to 7 cm. As the largest species, the giant belt tail ( Smaug giganteus ) reaches a length of up to 30 cm. The scales run circularly around the body and are conspicuously keeled or prickly on the tail. The animals have a bone armor that consists of well-developed osteoderms on the back from head to tail and is lighter on the chest and abdomen. The scales on the ventral side are often non-overlapping and smooth. The species of the genus Chamaesaura have greatly reduced limbs and a snake-like body.

Way of life

Belt tails are mostly ground-dwelling lizards that predominantly inhabit arid areas. They often live next to or on groups of rocks and rocks, where they can hide in crevices in case of danger and wedge themselves firmly against the rock walls by pressing the scales against them. Some species dig structures, others live on or on dead wood and are excellent climbers.

Insects mainly serve as food, some species occasionally ingest flowers or parts of plants.

With the exception of the species of the genus Platysaurus , girdle tails are viviparous .

Systematics

Within the family, a distinction is made between two subfamilies, the Cordylinae with nine genera and the monotypical Platysaurinae.

Chamaesaura anguina

Cordylus cordylus

Cordylus tropidosternum

Hemicordylus capensis

Ninurta coeruleopunctatus

Ouroborus cataphractus

Pseudocordylus melanotus

Smaug breyeri

Platysaurus pungweensis

• Subfamily Cordylinae
  • Belted lizards ( Chamaesaura Schneider, 1801)
    • Transvaal snake lizard ( Chamaesaura aenea (Fitzinger, 1843))
    • Chamaesaura anguina Linnaeus, 1758
    • Chamaesaura macrolepis (Cope, 1862)
    • Chamaesaura miopropus Boulenger, 1894
    • Chamaesaura tenuior Günther, 1895
  • Cordylus Laurenti, 1768
    • Cordylus angolensis (Bocage, 1895)
    • Cordylus aridus Mouton & Van Wyk, 1994
    • Cordylus beraduccii Broadley & Branch, 2002
    • Cordylus cloetei Mouton & Van Wyk, 1994
    • Cordylus cordylus (Linnaeus, 1758)
    • Cordylus imkeae Mouton & Van Wyk, 1994
    • Limpopo belt tail ( Cordylus jonesii (Boulenger, 1891))
    • Cordylus machadoi Laurent, 1964
    • Cordylus macropholis (Boulenger, 1910)
    • Cordylus marunguensis Greenbaum, Stanley, Kusamba, Moninga, Goldberg & Bursey, 2012
    • Cordylus mclachlani Mouton, 1986
    • Cordylus meculae Branch, Rödel & Marais, 2005
    • Cordylus minor Fitzsimons, 1943
    • Cordylus niger Cuvier, 1829
    • Cordylus nyikae Broadley & Mouton, 2000
    • Cordylus oelofseni Mouton & Van Wyk, 1990
    • Zimbabwe belt tail ( Cordylus rhodesianus (Hewitt, 1933))
    • Cordylus rivae (Boulenger, 1896)
    • Tropical belt tail ( Cordylus tropidosternum (Cope, 1869))
    • Cordylus ukingensis (Loveridge, 1932)
    • Cordylus vittifer (Reichenow, 1887)
  • Hemicordylus Smith, 1838
    • Cape belt tail ( Hemicordylus capensis (Smith, 1838))
    • Hemicordylus nebulosus (Mouton & Van Wyk, 1995)
  • Karusasaurus Stanley, Bauer, Jackman, Branch & Mouton, 2011
    • Karusasaurus jordani (Parker, 1936)
    • Karusasaurus polyzonus (Smith, 1838)
  • Namazonurus Stanley, Bauer, Jackman, Branch & Mouton, 2011
    • Namazonurus campbelli (Fitzsimons, 1938)
    • Namazonurus lawrenci (Fitzsimons, 1939)
    • Namazonurus namaquensis (Methuen & Hewitt, 1914)
    • Namazonurus peersi (Hewitt, 1932)
    • Namazonurus pustulatus (Peters, 1862)
  • Ninurta Stanley, Bauer, Jackman, Branch & Mouton, 2011
    • Ninurta coeruleopunctatus (Methuen & Hewitt, 1913)
  • Ouroborus Stanley, Bauer, Jackman, Branch & Mouton, 2011
    • Belt tail ( Ouroborus cataphractus (Boie, 1828))
  • Pseudocordylus Smith, 1838
    • Pseudocordylus langi Loveridge, 1944
    • Pseudocordylus melanotus (Smith, 1838)
    • Pseudocordylus microlepidotus (Cuvier, 1829)
    • Pseudocordylus spinosus Fitzsimons, 1947
    • Pseudocordylus subviridis (Smith, 1838)
    • Pseudocordylus transvaalensis Fitzsimons, 1943
  • Smaug Stanley, Bauer, Jackman, Branch & Mouton, 2011
    • Smaug breyeri (Van Dam, 1921)
    • Giant belt tail ( Smaug giganteus (Smith, 1844))
    • Smaug mossambicus (Fitzsimons, 1958)
    • Smaug regius (Broadley, 1962)
    • Smaug vandami (Fitzsimons, 1930)
    • Warren's belt tail ( Smaug warreni ) (Boulenger, 1908)
• Subfamily Platysaurinae
  • Flat-belted lizards ( Platysaurus Smith, 1844)
    • Platysaurus attenboroughi Whiting, Branch, Pepper & Keogh, 2015
    • Platysaurus broadleyi Branch & Whiting, 1997
    • Platysaurus capensis Smith, 1844
    • Platysaurus guttatus Smith, 1849
    • Platysaurus imperator Broadley, 1962
    • Platysaurus intermedius Matschie, 1891
    • Platysaurus lebomboensis Jacobsen, 1994
    • Platysaurus maculatus Broadley, 1965
    • Platysaurus minor Fitzsimons, 1930
    • Platysaurus mitchelli Loveridge, 1953
    • Platysaurus monotropis Jacobsen, 1994
    • Platysaurus ocellatus Broadley, 1962
    • Platysaurus orientalis Fitzsimons, 1941
    • Platysaurus pungweensis Broadley, 1959
    • Platysaurus relictus Broadley, 1976
    • Platysaurus torquatus Peters, 1879

swell

• Description of the family in "The Reptile Database

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Robert Alexander Pyron, Frank T. Burbrink & John J. Wiens: A phylogeny and revised classification of Squamata, including 4161 species of lizards and snakes. BMC Evolutionary Biology 2013, 13:93 doi: 10.1186 / 1471-2148-13-93

Web links

Commons : Cordylidae  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Cordylidae in The Reptile Database