Iguanas

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Iguanas
Collared iguana (Crotaphytus collaris, front left) and Chuckwalla (Sauromalus obesus)

Collared lizard ( Crotaphytus collaris , front left) and Chuckwalla ( Sauromalus obesus )

Systematics
without rank: Amniotes (Amniota)
without rank: Sauropsida
Superordinate : Scale lizards (Lepidosauria)
Order : Scale reptiles (Squamata)
without rank: Toxicofera
without rank: Iguanas
Scientific name
Iguania
Cope , 1864
Settler agama
( Agama agama )
Toad lizard
( Phrynosoma coronatum )

The iguana-like (Iguania) are a taxon of Squamata to inter alia the families of iguanas (Iguanidae), the Agama (Agamidae) and the chameleons are (Chamaeleonidae).

Many species of this group are equipped with spiky crests on their backs and tails, with horns, helmet-like bulges and throat pouches, which are important when threatening or courtship behavior.

Iguana species live in the tropics and subtropics around the world . In Europe there are only three species, the hardun ( Stellagama stellio ) and the chameleon species Chamaeleo chamaeleon and Chamaeleo africanus .

The iguanas include many tree lizards but also desert lizards. The Southeast Asian kites ( Draco ) are even capable of gliding , the marine iguanas ( Amblyrhynchus cristatus ) look for food in the ocean.

Systematics

Iguania is often used synonymously with Iguanidae . In 1989, the herpetologists Frost & Etheridge divided the large family of iguanas (Iguanidae) into a number of smaller families that previously had the status of subfamilies. The new families as well as the agamas and chameleons were summarized under "iguanas" . The families originally grouped under Iguanidae have the common characteristic of teeth that sit without roots on the inner edge of the jaw. Since this type of tooth fixation is called pleurodont , all former iguana families are placed in the rankless taxon Pleurodonta. In agamas and chameleons, the teeth sit on the upper edge of the jaw ( acrodont ), they form the taxon acrodonta .

The relationship between the individual families is shown in the following cladogram:

  Iguana (Iguania)  
  Acrodonta  

 Agamas (Agamidae)


   

 Chameleons (Chamaeleonidae)



  Pleurodonta  

 Keeltail iguanas (Tropiduridae)


   

 Iguanas (Iguanidae)


   


 Liolaemidae


   

 Crotaphytidae


   

 Madagascar iguanas (Opluridae)


   

 Leiosauridae





   


 Colored iguanas (Polychrotidae)


   

 Hoplocercidae (Hoplocercidae)



   

 Phrynosomatidae


   

 Leiocephalidae


   

 Corytophanidae (basilisks)


   

 Dactyloidae (Anolis)










swell

  • Volker Storch , Ulrich Welsch : Systematic Zoology. 6th, revised and expanded edition. Spectrum - Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg et al. 2004, ISBN 3-8274-1112-2 .
  • Darrel R. Frost, Richard Etheridge, Daniel Janies, Tom A. Titus: Total Evidence, Sequence Alignment, Evolution of Polychrotid Lizards, and a Reclassification of the Iguania (Squamata: Iguania) (= American Museum Novitates. No. 3343, ISSN  0003 -0082 ). American Museum of Natural History, New York NY 2001, online .
  • Integrated Taxonomic Information System: Iguania

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Axel Kwet: Reptiles and Amphibians of Europe. Kosmos, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-440-10237-8 .
  2. ↑ Ted M. Townsend, Daniel G. Mulcahy, Brice P. Noonan, Jack W. Sites Jr., Caitlin A. Kuczynski, John J. Wiens, Tod W. Reeder: Phylogeny of iguanian lizards inferred from 29 nuclear loci, and a comparison of concatenated and species-tree approaches for an ancient, rapid radiation. In: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. Vol. 61, No. 2, 2011, pp. 363-380, doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2011.07.008 , digital version (PDF; 1.35 MB) .
  3. ↑ Kirsten E. Nicholson, Brian I. Crother, Craig Guyer, Jay M. Savage : It is time for a new classification of anoles (Squamata: Dactyloidae) (= Zootaxa . 3477). Magnolia Press, Auckland 2012, ISBN 978-1-77557-010-3 , digital version (PDF; 8.24 MB) .

Web links

Commons : Iguania  - collection of images, videos and audio files