Diploglossidae is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

of anguimorph lizards native to the Americas, with most

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

being

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

. Most members of this family (aside from the legless genus '' Ophiodes'') are known as galliwasps. They were formerly considered a

subfamily 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 botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

Anguidae Anguidae refers to a large and diverse family of lizards native to the Northern Hemisphere. It contains 9 genera and 89 extant species. Common characteristics of this group include a reduced supratemporal arch, striations on the medial faces of t ...

, but genetic evidence has shown them to be less closely related to other members of Anguidae than Anniellidae is.

Taxonomy

Phylogenetic evidence supports an early

Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...

origin for the family Diploglossidae. member species were previously only classified into three genera ('' Celestus'', '' Diploglossus'', and '' Ophiodes''), but a 2021 study found these genera to be

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

, and thus further split them into more genera, classified within three different

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 botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zool ...

(the celestines, diploglossines, and siderolamprines). The siderolamprines and a single celestine radiated throughout most of

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, the diploglossines radiated throughout

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, and both the celestines and diploglossines radiated throughout the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Classification

The family contains the following genera: * Family Diploglossidae ** Subfamily Celestinae *** Genus '' Advenus'' – mountain forest galliwasp (one species) *** Genus '' Caribicus'' – Hispaniolan giant galliwasps (two extant species, one possibly extinct species) *** Genus '' Celestus'' – Jamaican galliwasps (eight extant species, three possibly extinct species) *** Genus '' Comptus'' (three species) *** Genus '' Guarocuyus'' – Jaragua forest lizard (one species) *** Genus '' Panolopus'' (three species) *** Genus '' Sauresia'' – four-toed galliwasp (one species) *** Genus '' Wetmorena'' – earless galliwasps (two species) ** Subfamily Diploglossinae *** Genus '' Diploglossus'' (10 species) *** Genus '' Mesoamericus'' (one species) – O'Shaughnessy's galliwasp *** Genus '' Ophiodes'' – worm lizards (six species) ** Subfamily Siderolamprinae *** Genus '' Siderolamprus'' (14 species)

Description

Most galliwasps are larger lizards, with normally proportioned and complete limbs. They superficially resemble

skinks Skinks are a type of lizard belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of liz ...

, and due to their bright coloration and size, are falsely assumed to be venomous. They occupy terrestrial habitats.

References

External links

"''Celestus''"
at The Reptile Database
"''Diploglossus''"
at The Reptile Database Diploglossidae Taxa named by Marie Firmin Bocourt {{Lizard-stub