Anguidae refers to a large and diverse family of lizards native to the Northern Hemisphere. Common characteristics of this group include a reduced supratemporal arch, striations on the medial faces of tooth crowns, osteoderms, and a lateral fold in the skin of most taxa. The group includes the slowworms, glass lizards, and alligator lizards, among others. The family is divided into two

subfamilies In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

(Anguinae and Gerrhonotinae), and contains about 87 species in 8

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial ...

Morphology and reproduction

Anguids have hard

osteoderm Osteoderms are bony deposits forming scales, plates, or other structures based in the dermis. Osteoderms are found in many groups of extant and extinct reptiles and amphibians, including lizards, crocodilians, frogs, temnospondyls (extinc ...

s beneath their scales giving them an armored appearance. Many of the species have reduced or absent limbs, giving them a

snake Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more j ...

-like appearance, while others are fully limbed. Body type varies among species, with sizes ranging from 10 cm to 1.5 m. The group includes

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), a ...

and viviparous species, both of which can be observed in a single genus at times.

Feeding and habitat

These lizards are known carnivorous or insectivorous foragers, feeding primarily on insects, although larger species have been known to feed on small reptiles and amphibians. They inhabit a wide range of different habitats across the globe, from arid to tropical environments. Most known species are terrestrial or semifossorial, with the exception of one arboreal genus: ''

Abronia ''Abronia'' may refer to: *Abronia (gens) The gens Abronia was a Roman family during the time of the emperor Augustus. The ''gens'' is known primarily by two persons, the poet Abronius Silo, and his son, who wrote for pantomimes. See also * Lis ...

''.

Evolution

Anguids have a relatively good fossil record and are relatively common as fossils in the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...

and

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of ...

of western North America. The oldest known anguid, with the most complete fossil record of any lizard, is '' Odaxosaurus'', a member of the extinct anguid subfamily Glyptosaurinae, from the late

Campanian The Campanian is the fifth of six ages of the Late Cretaceous Epoch on the geologic timescale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). In chronostratigraphy, it is the fifth of six stages in the Upper Cretaceous Series. Campani ...

of Canada, about 75 million years ago. ''Odaxosaurus'' and other Late Cretaceous anguids already exhibit many features found in living anguids, including chisel-like teeth and armor plates in the skin, suggesting a long evolutionary history for the group. Anguids were particularly diverse during the Paleocene and Eocene in North America; some species, such as those belonging to Glyptosaurinae, grew to large size and evolved a highly specialized crushing dentition. The long fossil record for the Anguidae in North America suggests that the group probably evolved in North America during the Cretaceous before dispersing to Europe in the Paleogene.

Classification

Family ANGUIDAE * Subfamily Anguinae ** Genus '' Anguis'' - slowworms (five species) ** Genus '' Dopasia'' - Asian glass lizards (seven species) ** Genus '' Hyalosaurus'' - North African glass lizard (one species) ** Genus '' Ophisaurus'' - American glass lizards (five species) ** Genus '' Pseudopus'' - scheltopusik (one extant species) * Subfamily Gerrhonotinae - alligator lizards ** Genus ''

Barisia ''Barisia'' is a genus of lizards in the family Anguidae. The genus is endemic to Mexico. Species The following species are recognized as being valid."''Barisia'' ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org. http://reptile-database.reptari ...

'' - alligator lizards (seven species) ** Genus '' Gerrhonotus'' - alligator lizards (seven species) ** Genus ''

'' - arboreal alligator lizards (37 species) ** Genus '' Elgaria'' - western alligator lizards (seven species) *Subfamily † Glyptosaurinae Genetic evidence indicates that Diploglossinae lies outside the clade containing Anguinae, Gerrhonotinae, and the family Anniellidae, Therefore it has been placed in own separate family Diploglossidae.

References

External links

List of species in the family Anguidae
from the

Reptile Database The Reptile Database is a scientific database that collects taxonomic information on all living reptile species (i.e. no fossil species such as dinosaurs). The database focuses on species (as opposed to higher ranks such as families) and has entri ...

* http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Anguidae/ {{Taxonbar, from=Q191059 Anguids Taxa named by John Edward Gray Lizard families Extant Campanian first appearances