Goldteju
| Goldteju | ||||||||||||
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Goldteju ( Tupinambis teguixin ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Tupinambis teguixin | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The Goldteju ( Tupinambis teguixin ), also known as Bandedju , Salompenter or Iguan , is a species in the family of the rail lizards (Teiidae). It was described by Linnaeus in 1758 .
distribution
Its distribution area is northern and central South America and extends from Colombia , Venezuela and Guiana , across the Amazon region to Paraguay and northern Argentina. There it lives as a ground dweller in rainforests, savannahs, in the coastal area and along the rivers.
features
The Goldteju can be up to 1.4 meters long and has a black-brown, slightly bluish shimmering basic color. Yellow spots on the back combine to form several cross bars. White-yellow spots are found on the head, neck and legs. It has 17 to 29 pre-anal and femoral pores .
Way of life
Gold tejus feed on insects, spiders, eggs and small vertebrates. Occasionally they will also eat fruit, herbs and flowers. They are very good at climbing, swimming and digging burrows in the ground.
Reproduction
Golden Tejum males woo the females with nods of the head, sibilants and tender bites in the tail. The female expresses her willingness to mate by shaking her head and lifting her tail. During copulation, the male bites the female's neck. The 4 to 32 eggs are often laid in a broken nest of tree termites, which the termites then close again. So it offers warm and safe protection. The eggs weigh between 17 and 24 grams, are 42 to 54 mm long and 25 to 31 mm wide. When the animals hatch after 152 to 171 days, the young animals weighing 18 to 20 grams have to find their way outside. They then have a head-torso length of about 8 to 8.5 centimeters and a 12 centimeter long tail. After a year they can reach a length of 40 centimeters.
literature
- Manfred Rogner : Lizards. Volume: 2: Monitor lizards, skinks and other lizards as well as bridge lizards and crocodiles. Ulmer, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-8001-7253-4 .
