The Tropiduridae are 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
iguanid lizards.
["Tropiduridae". 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 dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared ...
. www.reptile-database.org. The family is sometimes 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 ...
, Tropidurinae. The subfamily is native to
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 ...
, including the islands of
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...
and the
Galápagos. Commonly known as
Neotropical ground lizards, most are ground-dwelling animals, and the subfamily includes some lizards adapted to relatively cold climates, including those of the
Andes
The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
mountains and
Tierra del Fuego. Several species give birth to
live young.
A 2021 study described a novel escutcheon-type generation gland ('α-gland') in tropidurines, found in at least 39 species. This gland is believed to be the main potential source of
semiochemicals in this group indicating its importance in
chemical signalling, an essential component of the communication system of lizards.
Genera
The family Tropiduridae contains the following eight
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 ...
.
[
*'' Eurolophosaurus''
*'' Microlophus'' – lava lizards and Pacific iguanas (sometimes in ''Tropidurus'')
*'' Plica''
*'' Stenocercus'' – whorltail iguanas
*'' Strobilurus''
*'' Tropidurus'' (including ''Platynotus, Tapinurus'')
*'' Uracentron'' – thornytail iguanas (sometimes in ''Tropidurus'')
*'' Uranoscodon''
]
References
External links
*
Further reading
* Bell T (1843). ''The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle Under the Command of Captain Fitzroy, R.N., during the years 1832 to 1836. Edited and Superintended by Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
... Naturalist to the Expedition. Part V. Reptiles.'' London: Smith, Elder and Company. vi + 51 pp. + Plates 1-20. (Tropiduridae, new family, p. 1). (in English and Latin).
Lizard families
Taxa named by Thomas Bell (zoologist)
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