Dwarf tea

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Dwarf tea
Bachia bicolor

Bachia bicolor

Systematics
without rank: Amniotes (Amniota)
without rank: Sauropsida
Superordinate : Scale lizards (Lepidosauria)
Order : Scale reptiles (Squamata)
without rank: Lacertoidea
Family : Dwarf tea
Scientific name
Gymnophthalmidae
Merrem , 1820

The dwarf - or Brillentejus (Gymnophthalmidae) are exclusively in the New World occurring from southern Mexico to Argentina family of Squamata (Squamata).

features

Compared to other lizards, most dwarf teas have elongated, slender bodies. Some also resemble the real lizards (Lacertidae). With a length of ten centimeters or more, they are the smallest lizards in South and Central America , apart from a few types of gecko . In several genera, there was a reduction in limbs independently of one another, often combined with a strong lengthening of the body. In the Wühltejus ( Bachia ) the legs are reduced to functionless, fin-like appendages with three toes and are only used when moving slowly. The genus can jump with the help of the tail. In Calyptommatus the legs are completely absent. Most species have a transparent lower eyelid (Gymnophthalmidae = naked eyes) so that they can see with their eyes closed.

Habitat and way of life

Dwarf teas live mainly in the humid tropics, e.g. B. in rainforests , but also in deserts and high in the Andes . Proctoporus bolivianus still lives at altitudes of 4000 meters. In Ecuador , six Pholidobolus species occur in valleys and on the slopes of mountains up to heights of 3000 meters. Up to ten species of dwarf tea can be found in the same habitat.

Most of the dwarf teas stay on the ground, some like Cercosaura argulus also climb trees or bushes. Bachia digs in the soils of tropical rainforests, Calyptommatus in sandy habitats. Most species of Neusticurus live semi-aquatic . Neusticurus ecpleopus is bound to sandbanks of jungle rivers. Often sister species can be identified that have been separated by geographical barriers. Calyptommatus sinebrachiatus occurs exclusively in dunes on the north bank of the Rio São Francisco , while the south bank is inhabited by C. leiolepis and C. nicteris - these two species in turn live isolated from each other in sand dunes.

All Zwergtejus eat insects and other small invertebrates and are without exception oviparous (laying eggs), two forms of Gymnophthalmus underwoodi also reproduce parthenogenetically . Often several females lay eggs in the same nest. Sexual dimorphism occurs, but not in burrowing, underground species. Usually the head of the male is larger and the sides of the body are more patterned. Vanzosaura rubricauda , which lives in open habitats, has males smaller but thicker heads.

Systematics

The Zwergtejus are the sister group of the rail lizards (Teiidae) and are also assigned to them by some authors as the subfamily Gymnophthalminae. In the traditional systematics of the scale reptiles, both families were assigned to the skinky (Scincomorpha). According to the most recent molecular biological investigations, however, they are not closely related to the skinky species, but rather the taxon (Teiformata or Gymnophthalmoidea) formed by dwarf teas , rail lizards and Alopoglossidae is the sister group of Lacertibaenia, a taxon to which the real lizards (Lacertidae) and the double snakes belong (Amphisbaenia) belong. The clade formed by all five groups is called the laterata or lacertoidea.

There are about 230 species in over 40 genera and four subfamilies.

Anadia rombiphera
Euspondylus oreades
Riama striata
Leposoma rugiceps

The Alopoglossinae , originally another subfamily of the Dwarf Tejus, became an independent family in April 2016.

literature

  • Eric R. Pianka, Laurie J. Vitt: Lizards: Windows to the Evolution of Diversity (Organisms and Environments) . University of California Press (2003), ISBN 0-520-23401-4

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nicolas Vidal, S. Blair Hedges: The phylogeny of squamate reptiles (lizards, snakes, and amphisbaenians) inferred from nine nuclear protein-coding genes . CR Biologies 328 (2005): 1000-1008. PDF full text
  2. ↑ a b c Goicoechea, N., Frost, DR, De la Riva, I., Pellegrino, KCM, Sites, J., Rodrigues, MT & Padial, JM: Molecular systematics of teioid lizards (Teioidea / Gymnophthalmoidea: Squamata) based on the analysis of 48 loci under tree alignment and similarity alignment. Cladistics, March 2016, doi: 10.1111 / cla.12150

Web links

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