Lacertids Temporal range: | |
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Sand lizard (Lacerta agilis) | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Superfamily: | Lacertoidea |
Family: | Lacertidae Oppel, 1811 |
Type species | |
Lacerta agilis | |
Subgroups | |
See text |
The Lacertidae are the family of the wall lizards, true lizards, or sometimes simply lacertas, which are native to Afro-Eurasia. It is a diverse family with at about 360 species in 39 genera. They represent the dominant group of reptiles found in Europe.
The European and Mediterranean species of lacertids live mainly in forest and scrub habitats. [1] Eremias and Ophisops species replace these in the grassland and desert habitats of Asia. African species usually live in rocky, arid areas. Holaspis species are among the few arboreal lacertids, and its two species, Holaspis guentheri and Holaspis laevis , are gliders (although apparently poor ones), using their broad tail and flattened body as an aerofoil. [2]
Lacertids are small or medium-sized lizards. Most species are less than 9 cm long, excluding the tail, although the largest living species, Gallotia stehlini , reaches 46 cm, and some extinct forms were larger still. They are primarily insectivorous. [1] An exception is Meroles anchietae, one of the few wall lizards that regularly eat seeds – an appropriate food for a lizard of the harsh Namib Desert.
Lacertids are remarkably similar in form, with slender bodies and long tails, but have highly varied patterns and colours, even within the same species. Their scales are large on the head, which often also has osteoderms, small and granular on the back, and rectangular on the underside. Most species are sexually dimorphic, with the males and females having different patterns. [1]
At least eight species from the Caucasus are parthenogenetic, [3] [4] and three species give birth to live young, including the viviparous lizard, Zootoca vivipara. [1]
Lacertids are suspected to have originated in Europe, due to their earliest fossils being found in the region, alongside those of their sister group, the extinct Eolacertidae. [5] Fossils possibly attributable to lacertids are known from the Paleocene of France and Belgium, though the oldest definitive lacertid is known from the early Eocene (Ypresian) of Mutigny, France in the Paris Basin. [6] Lacertids dispersed into Asia by the early Oligocene. [7] The timing of the colonisation of Africa is uncertain, ranging from the Eocene to the Miocene. [8]
The classification into subfamilies and tribes below follows one presented by Arnold et al., 2007, based on their phylogenetic analysis. [9]
Family Lacertidae
The latest extensive phylogenetic lacertid tree was made by Baeckens et al. in 2015. [10]
The genus Gallotia are the lacertids of the Canary Islands. This genus consists of a group that has been evolving there ever since the first islands emerged from the sea over 20 million years ago. The endemic species and subspecies of this group have a number of characteristics that make them quite special within their family (Lacertidae); their only close relatives are the sandrunner lizards (Psammodromus) of the western Mediterranean region. Gallotia are characteristic for eating significant quantities of plants, and several lineages are often presented as classic examples for insular gigantism. However, a find of an even larger Gallotia species from the early Miocene of mainland Europe casts doubt on this assumption. Instead the ancestor of all modern Gallotia species of the Canary islands was probably already very large but carnivorous.
Lacerta is a genus of lizards of the family Lacertidae.
Nucras is a genus of African lacertid lizards, commonly called sandveld lizards.
The viviparous lizard, or common lizard, is a Eurasian lizard. It lives farther north than any other species of non-marine reptile, and is named for the fact that it is viviparous, meaning it gives birth to live young. Both "Zootoca" and "vivipara" mean "live birth", in (Latinized) Greek and Latin respectively. It was called Lacerta vivipara until the genus Lacerta was split into nine genera in 2007 by Arnold, Arribas & Carranza.
Bedriaga's fringe-fingered lizard is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to Algeria.
The Greek algyroides, or Greek keeled lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. It is endemic to Greece.
Aurelio's rock lizard is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to the Iberian peninsula.
The Atlas dwarf lizard, commonly known as Andreansky's lizard, is the only species in the genus Atlantolacerta, in the wall lizard family, Lacertidae. The species is indigenous to north-western Africa.
Femoral pores are a part of a holocrine secretory gland found on the inside of the thighs of certain lizards and amphisbaenians which releases pheromones to attract mates or mark territory. In certain species only the male has these pores and in other species, both sexes have them, with the male's being larger. Femoral pores appear as a series of pits or holes within a row of scales on the ventral portion of the animal's thigh.
Bosc's fringe-toed lizard or Bosk's [sic] fringe-fingered lizard is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to North Africa and Western Asia. Three subspecies are sometimes recognised; A. boskianus boskianus, from Lower Egypt; A. boskianus euphraticus from Iraq; and A. boskianus asper from the rest of the range; however this division is unsatisfactory because each subspecies has much variation and the differences between them are not consistent.
Meroles squamulosa is a species of African lizard originally placed in the genus Ichnotropis, however phylogenetic evidence moves this species to the genus Meroles. The species is commonly called the common rough-scaled lizard or savanna lizard. It is largely found in southern Africa. These lizards are terrestrial and found in the range of mesic savannah. The common rough-scaled lizard is medium in size and well distributed in parts of Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Angola, Tanzania, and Zambia.
Congolacerta is a genus of equatorial African lacertids of the family Lacertidae. Species of this genus are distributed in western East Africa.
Acanthodactylus tristrami, commonly called the Lebanon fringe-fingered lizard and Tristram's spiny-footed lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to the Middle East.
Duméril's fringe-fingered lizard is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. A. dumerilii is in the A. scutellatus species group. A. dumerilii is native to the western and central Sahara.
Phoenicolacerta is a genus of wall lizards of the family Lacertidae. The genus was described in 2007.
Iranolacerta is a genus of wall lizards of the family Lacertidae.
Danford's lizard is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is native to Greece and Turkey. There are no subspecies that are recognized as being valid.
Eolacertidae is an extinct family of lacertoid lizards known from the Paleocene and Eocene of Europe. They are the closest known relatives of Lacertidae.
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