Phrynosomatidae
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Scientific name | ||||||||||||
Phrynosomatidae | ||||||||||||
Fitzinger , 1843 |
The Phrynosomatidae are a family of the iguanas (Iguania) that occur in North and Central America from southern Canada to Panama . The main distribution center of the more than 120 species are the western, continental United States and Mexico .
features
The lizards are small, most species have a head-trunk length of less than ten centimeters. The animals live on the ground and often have an oblate body. They differ from other iguanas by a total of 30 autapomorphies , which mostly affect the skull bones.
Way of life
They live in deserts and other arid areas, preferably on rocky terrain. Their diet consists of insects, other invertebrates and smaller lizards. The toad lizards ( Phrynosoma ) are exclusively desert inhabitants, Sceloporus , the species-richest genus has both ground-dwelling members and members who climb bushes and rocks. The species of the Uma genus move like the North African Apothekerkink through loose sand. All Phrynosomatidae except for a few species of the genera Sceloporus and Phrynosoma , which are viviparous , reproduce through eggs .
Systematics
The Phrynosomatidae were initially considered a subfamily of the iguanas (Iguanidae) until they were raised to the rank of a family by Frost and Etheridge in 1989.
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Phrynosomatidae
- Clade 1
- Zebra-tailed lizard ( Callisaurus )
- Cophosaurus
- Pigeon iguanas ( Holbrookia )
- Toad lizards ( phrynosoma )
- Clade 2
- Rock iguanas ( Petrosaurus )
- Sator
- Barbed Guinea ( Sceloporus )
- Fringed-toe iguanas ( Uma )
- Tree iguana ( Urosaurus )
- Side-spotted iguanas ( Uta )
- Clade 1
literature
- Wilfried Westheide , Reinhard Rieger : Special Zoology. Volume 2: Vertebrates or Skull Animals. Spectrum - Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg et al. 2004, ISBN 3-8274-0307-3 .
Web links
- Phrynosomatidae in The Reptile Database
- Animal Diversity Web Family Phrynosomatidae
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System Phrynosomatidae
- The Tree of Life Web Project Phrynosomatidae
- Phrynosoma.ch