Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 6,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic as it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia; some lizards are more closely related to these two excluded groups than they are to other lizards. Lizards range in size from chameleons and geckos a few centimeters long to the 3 meter long Komodo dragon.
Reptiles are tetrapod animals in the class Reptilia, comprising today's turtles, crocodilians, snakes, amphisbaenians, lizards, tuatara, and their extinct relatives. The study of these traditional reptile orders, historically combined with that of modern amphibians, is called herpetology.
Tuatara are reptiles endemic to New Zealand. Although resembling most lizards, they are part of a distinct lineage, the order Rhynchocephalia. Their name derives from the Māori language, and means "peaks on the back". The single species of tuatara is the only surviving member of its order, which flourished around 200 million years ago. Their most recent common ancestor with any other extant group is with the squamates. For this reason, tuatara are of interest in the study of the evolution of lizards and snakes, and for the reconstruction of the appearance and habits of the earliest diapsids, a group of amniote tetrapods that also includes dinosaurs, birds, and crocodilians.
Vertebrates comprise all species of animals within the subphylum Vertebrata. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with currently about 69,276 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes and jawed vertebrates, which include the cartilaginous fishes and the bony fishes. The bony fishes in turn, cladistically speaking, also include the tetrapods, which include amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
Colubridae is a family of snakes. With 524 genera and approximately 1,760 species, it is the largest snake family, and includes just over 51% of all known living snake species. The earliest species of the family date back to the Oligocene epoch. Colubrid snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica.
Squamata is the largest order of reptiles, comprising lizards, snakes and amphisbaenians, which are collectively known as squamates or scaled reptiles. With over 10,000 species, it is also the second-largest order of extant (living) vertebrates, after the perciform fish, and roughly equal in number to the Saurischia. Members of the order are distinguished by their skins, which bear horny scales or shields. They also possess movable quadrate bones, making it possible to move the upper jaw relative to the neurocranium. This is particularly visible in snakes, which are able to open their mouths very wide to accommodate comparatively large prey. Squamata is the most variably sized order of reptiles, ranging from the 16 mm (0.63 in) dwarf gecko to the 5.21 m (17.1 ft) green anaconda and the now-extinct mosasaurs, which reached lengths of over 14 m (46 ft).
The Mexican blind lizard is a species of legless lizard in the family Dibamidae, and the only species in the genus Anelytropsis. It is endemic to Mexico. They look like Amphisbaenia, but are in fact, only distantly related.
The Cylindrophiidae are a monotypic family of secretive, semifossorial, nonvenomous snakes containing the genus Cylindrophis found in southeastern Asia. These are burrowing snakes and most have a banded pattern on the belly. Currently, thirteen species are recognized, with no subspecies. Common names include Asian pipe snakes or Asian cylinder snakes.
Toxicofera is a proposed clade of scaled reptiles (squamates) that includes the Serpentes (snakes), Anguimorpha and Iguania. Toxicofera contains about 4,600 species, of extant squamata. It encompasses all venomous reptile species, as well as numerous related non-venomous species. There is little morphological evidence to support this grouping, however it has been recovered by all recent molecular analyses.
The Alethinophidia are an infraorder of snakes that includes all snakes other than blind snakes and thread snakes. Snakes have long been grouped into families within Alethinophidia based on their morphology, especially that of their teeth. More modern phylogenetic hypotheses using genetic data support the recognition of 19 extant families, although the taxonomy of alethinophidian snakes has long been debated, and ultimately the decision whether to assign a particular clade to a particular Linnaean rank is arbitrary.
Aerosteon is a genus of megaraptoran dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous period of Argentina. Its remains were discovered in 1996 in the Anacleto Formation, dating to the Santonian stage. The type and only known species is A. riocoloradense. Its specific name indicates that its remains were found 1 km north of the Río Colorado, in Mendoza Province, Argentina.
Chlamydosauromyces punctatus is the sole species in the monotypic genus of fungi, Chlamydosauromyces in the family, Onygenaceae. It was found in the skin shed from frilled lizard. This fungus is mesophilic and digests hair. It reproduces both sexually and asexually. The fungus has so far not been reported to be pathogenic.
The Lamprophiidae are a family of snakes found mostly in Africa, but also in parts of southern Europe and western Asia. A few species reach southeastern Asia. There are 322 species as of April 2019.
Chrysosporium longisporum is a keratinophilic microfungus in the family Onygenaceae that causes skin infections in reptiles, producing hyaline, thin-walled, small, sessile conidia and colonies with a strong skunk-like odour.
Nannizziopsis pluriseptata is a keratinophilic microfungus in the family Onygenaceae that causes skin infections in reptiles, producing hyaline, thin-walled, small, sessile conidia and colonies with a strong skunk-like odour. It is distinguished by its production of 1- to 5-celled sessile conidia.
Nannizziopsis arthrosporioides is a keratinophilic microfungus in the family Onygenaceae that causes skin infections in reptiles, producing hyaline, thin-walled, small, sessile conidia and colonies with a strong skunk-like odour. It is distinguished by the production of long arthroconidia.
Nannizziopsis draconii is a keratinophilic microfungus in the family Onygenaceae that causes skin infections in reptiles, producing hyaline, thin-walled, small, sessile conidia and colonies with a strong skunk-like odour.
Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola is a keratinophilic fungus from the family Onygenaceae of the order Onygenales. O. ophiodiicola is an emerging pathogen of captive and wild snakes in North America. It is reported to cause snake fungal disease (SFD) in many different species of snakes; clinical signs include skin swelling, crusts, and nodules of the skin. The mode of transmission is unknown, but is speculated to occur with direct contact between snakes or with the contaminated environment. Currently no treatment for O. ophiodiicola is available. O. ophiodiicola was identified by Sigler, Hambleton & Paré in 2013. O. ophiodiicola is the only species in the genus Ophidiomyces. It was previously known as Chrysosporium ophiodiicola and is closely related to Chrysosporium anamorph Nannizziopsis vriesii (CANV).
Nannizziopsis guarroi was first documented in 2006 on a variety of lizards then described in Spain in 2010 and was classified as Chrysosporium guarroi, a member of the anamorphic genus Chrysosporium in the family Onygenaceae. Etymologically, the species epithet "guarroi" honours Professor Josep Guarro in recognition of his extensive mycological work including on the genus Chrysosporium. Skin samples taken from pet green iguanas suffering from dermatomycosis were sent to a laboratory for analysis. Five species were isolated and morphologic studies identified the fungus causing the mycoses as a member of the anamorphic species of Chrysosporium. Further investigation of these species using a combination of morphological, cultural and molecular studies showed that they were not identical to any previously described species within the genus Chrysosporium so they were classified as a new species Chrysosporium guarroisp. nov. The delineation of species in the genus Chrysosporium and their assignment to higher taxonomic levels can be challenging due to the marked morphological simplicity of these fungi. Increased scrutiny of strains of these fungi using molecular genetic tools has revealed numerous hidden species and unexpected relationships.
The Colubroides are a clade in the suborder Serpentes (snakes). It contains over 85% of all the extant species of snakes. The largest family is Colubridae, but it also includes at least six other families, at least four of which were once classified as "Colubridae" before molecular phylogenetics helped us understand their relationships. It has been found to be monophyletic.
