Tropidurus

Tropidurus
Tropidurus oreadicus on a wall in Belém, Brazil
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Tropiduridae
Genus: Tropidurus
Wied-Neuwied, 1824
Type species
Lacerta torquata
Species

29, see text

Synonyms
  • Platynotus
  • Strobilurus
  • Tapinurus

and see text

Tropidurus is a genus of reptiles. The genus includes many species of Neotropical ground lizards (family Tropiduridae). Tropidurus is the type genus of the family Tropiduridae.

Geographic range and habitat

The genus occurs throughout open tropical and subtropical environments, primarily in the arid regions of South America, the isolated savannas within the Amazon, and along much of the Brazilian Atlantic coast. Most species of Tropidurus are closely associated with rocky habitats or areas dominated by sandy substrates.

Common name

No common name is widely used solely for species of the genus Tropidurus. In their native range, they are simply called lagartixa, as are most similar animals. If anything, the Brazilian term calango is used to particularly refer to lizards of the genus Tropidurus.

Taxonomy

The genus Tropidurus contains 30 described species, but new ones continue to be discovered. An additional seven species—the Galápagos lava lizards endemic to the Galápagos Islands—are sometimes placed here, too, but more commonly separated in the genus Microlophus, instead. Similarly, the green thornytail iguana and tropical thorny iguana are now often separated into the minor, but probably distinct Uracentron lineage, instead. In this article, these two genera are kept separate, while Platynotus, Strobilurus, and Tapinurus are included in Tropidurus.

Description

Males and females of all Tropidurus species are marked differently. The male is usually much larger than the female, and his body is more brightly coloured and distinctly patterned. The typical size of Tropidurus lizards varies greatly from habitat to habitat as does the pattern of body markings, even among individuals of the same species. Like many lizards, they show changes of colour with mood and temperature. Tropidurus hispidus is widely considered the largest species in the genus.

Species

T. catalanensis basking at Iguazu Falls

These species are recognized as being valid:

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Tropidurus.

References

  1. ↑ Tropidurus Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
  2. ↑ Salgado, Fernando Luiz Kilesse (2020-07-01). "Note: Occurrence of Tropidurus hispidus (Spix, 1825), in the semi-arid region of Cariré, Ceará State, Brazil". Revista Científica Multidisciplinar Núcleo do Conhecimento. 05 (06): 111–116. ISSN 2448-0959.
  3. ↑ Genus Tropidurus at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  4. ↑ Species Tropidurus imbituba at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  5. ↑ Passos DC, Lima DC, Borges-Nojosa DM (2011). "A new species of Tropidurus (Squamata, Tropiduridae) of the semiaeniatus group from a semiarid area in Northeastern Brazil". Zootaxa 2930: 60-68.
  6. ↑ Carvalho ALG (2016). "Three new species of the Tropidurus spinulosus group (Squamata: Tropiduridae) from Eastern Paraguay". American Museum Novitates (3853): 1-44.
  7. ↑ Carvalho ALG et al. (2016). "A new Tropidurus (Tropiduridae) from the semiarid Brazilian Caatinga: evidence for conflicting signal between mitochondrial and nuclear loci affecting the phylogenetic reconstruction of South American collared lizards". American Museum Novitates (3852): 1-66.

Further reading