Stab

Stab
Yucca Nights ( Xantusia vigilis )
Systematics
without rank: Amniotes (Amniota) without rank: Sauropsida Superordinate : Scale lizards (Lepidosauria) Order : Scale reptiles (Squamata) without rank: Scincomorpha (Scincoidea) Family : Stab
Scientific name
Xantusiidae
Baird , 1858

The night lizards (Xantusiidae) are a family in the order of Squamata (Squamata).

The Xantusia species inhabit rocky, dry areas in the southwestern United States , while the Lepidophyma species inhabit more humid regions in Central America, including caves. Cricosaura lives in drier habitats in Cuba, but there must always be a certain basic moisture. The family of 34 species got its name from the predominantly nocturnal way of life. At dusk they set out to hunt. During the day they hide in rock crevices, under stones or dead wood and in the layer of leaves. They reach a total length of up to 26 cm ( Lepidophyma flavimaculatum ) and feed on insects, spiders and occasionally also on fruits and other plant parts.

features

A characteristic of the nighs are their immobile eyelids. As with the geckos, these are fused together to form a kind of glasses. The lower eyelid is characterized by a transparent "window". When it is bright, their slit-shaped pupils are visible. They have scales on their stomach and back and a scaling shield on their head. As far as is known, the species of the genera Lepidophyma and Xantusia give birth to living young animals, which in some species are fed via a placenta in the mother's body. Cricosaura typica is the only species in the family that lays eggs.

Systematics

Granite Nightshawi ( Xantusia henshawi )

Xantusiidae

• Subfamily Cricosaurinae Lydekker, 1888
  • Cricosaura Gundlach & Peters , 1863
    • Cuban Nightshaw ( Cricosaura typica Gundlach & Peters, 1863)
• Subfamily Lepidophyminae Günther, 1885
  • Central American Nights ( Lepidophyma Duméril, 1851)
    • Lepidophyma chicoasensis Alvarez & Valentin, 1988
    • Lepidophyma cuicateca Canseco-Márquez, Guttierez-Mayen & Mendoza-Hernandez, 2008
    • Lepidophyma dontomasi (Smith, 1942)
    • Crocodile nigh ( Lepidophyma flavimaculatum Duméril, 1851)
    • Lepidophyma gaigeae Mosauer , 1936
    • Lepidophyma lineri Smith, 1973
    • Lepidophyma lipetzi Smith & Del Toro, 1977
    • Lepidophyma lowei Bezy & Camarillo, 1997
    • Lepidophyma mayae Bezy, 1973
    • Lepidophyma micropholis Walker, 1955
    • Lepidophyma occulor Smith, 1942
    • Lepidophyma pajapanensis Werler, 1957
    • Lepidophyma radula (Smith, 1942)
    • Lepidophyma reticulatum Taylor, 1955
    • Lepidophyma smithii Bocourt, 1876
    • Lepidophyma sylvaticum Taylor, 1939
    • Lepidophyma tarascae Bezy, Webb & Álvarez, 1982
    • Lepidophyma tuxtlae Werler & Shannon, 1957
    • Lepidophyma zongolica García-Vázquez, Canseco-Márquez & Aguilar-López, 2010
• Subfamily Xantusiinae Baird, 1858
  • Xantusia Baird, 1859
    • Xantusia arizonae hawks , 1931
    • Xantusia bezyi Papenfuss, Macey & Schulte, 2001
    • Xantusia bolsonae Webb, 1970
    • Xantusia extorris Webb, 1965
    • Xantusia gilberti Van Denburgh, 1895
    • Xantusia gracilis Grismer & Galvan, 1986
    • Granite Nightshawi ( Xantusia henshawi Stejneger, 1893)
    • Xantusia jaycolei Bezy, Bezy & Bolles, 2008
    • Xantusia riversiana Cope, 1883
    • Xantusia sanchezi Bezy & Flores-Villela, 1999
    • Xantusia sherbrookei Bezy, Bezy & Bolles, 2008
    • Xantusia sierrae Bezy, 1967
    • Yucca Nigth ( Xantusia vigilis Baird, 1859)
    • Xantusia wigginsi Savage, 1952

Individual evidence

1. ^ Smith, HM (1946): Handbook of Lizards. Lizards of the United States and of Canada. Ithaca, New York, Comstock Publishing.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Schlüter, U. (2009): The yellow-spotted crocodile-nigth ( Lepidophyma flavimaculatum ) in the terrarium. Reptilia No. 80: 70-74.
3. ↑ Estrada, AR & Armas, LF de. (1998): Apuntes ecológicos sobre Cricosaura typica (Sauria: Xantusiidae) de Cuba. Carib. J. Sci. 34 (1-2): 157-160
4. ↑ Xantusiidae in Reptile Database
5. ↑ Díaz, LM, Estrada, AR, Berovides, V. & Moreno, LV (1997): Ecología, reproducción y conservación de la lagartija de hojarasca Cricosaura typica (Sauria: Xantusiidae). In: IV Simposio de Zoología, La Habana (Instituto de Ecología y Sistemática), Resúmenes, pp. 79.
6. ↑ Diaz, LM (2007): The maintenance breeding of Cricosaura typica . Aquaristic trade magazine 195, 39 (3): 106-108.
7. ↑ Fong, A. & Bignotte-Giró, I. (2009): For information from an Unknown Woman: Cricosaura typica , the Cuban night lizard. Terraria, No. 18, 4 (4): 58-62.
8. ↑ Moreno, LV (1987): Primeras observaciones sobre Cricosaura typica (Squamata: Xantusiidae) en cautiverio. Cien. Biol. 17: 104-108.

literature

• 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
• Editor: Cogger, Dr. Harold and Doubt, Dr. Richard: Encyclopedia of Reptiles & Amphibians , 1999 - ISBN 3-8289-1559-0

Web links

Commons : Nachtechsen (Xantusiidae)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Xantusiidae in The Reptile Database