''Oplurus cyclurus'', also known commonly as the Madagascar swift and Merrem's Madagascar swift, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

in the

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 ...

Opluridae The Opluridae, or Madagascan iguanas, are a family of moderately-sized lizards native to Madagascar and Grande Comore. There are eight species across two genera, with most of them being under '' Oplurus''. The other genus, '' Chalarodon'', is eas ...

. The species is

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 ...

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. It is arboreal and mostly

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores we ...

. Its breeding is timed with the rainy season.

Description

''Oplurus cyclurus'' is similar in appearance to ''

Oplurus cuvieri ''Oplurus cuvieri'', Common name, commonly known as the collared iguana, the collared iguanid lizard, Cuvier's Madagascar skink, Cuvier's Madagascar swift, and the Madagascan collared iguana, is a species of Arboreal locomotion, arboreal lizard i ...

''; the two species may be easily confused. ''Oplurus cyclurus'' is slightly smaller than ''

''. Both species have a distinctive large spiny tail, and neither has a dorsal crest. ''Oplurus cyclurus'' has a dark brown or black band around the neck and similar paler markings on its back.

Behavior, habitat, and geographic range

''O. cyclurus'' is mostly arboreal, living in the spiny forests of southern and southwestern Madagascar.

Reproduction

''O. cyclurus'' is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

Description

Behavior, habitat, and geographic range

Reproduction

References

Further reading