Troodos lizard Phoenicolacerta troodicaTerminology and scalation of lacertids
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.
Habitat
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 deserthabitats 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]
Description
Lacertids are small to medium-sized lizards. Most species are less than 9cm long, excluding the tail. The largest living species, Gallotia stehlini, reaches 46cm, 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.[clarification needed]
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]
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. The oldest definitive lacertid is known from the early Eocene (Ypresian) in 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]
Classification
The classification into subfamilies and tribes below follows one presented by Arnold et al., 2007, based on their phylogenetic analysis.[9]
^ abcdBauer, Aaron M. (1998). Cogger, H.G.; Zweifel, R.G. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 163–165. ISBN978-0-12-178560-4.
^Darevskii IS. 1967. Rock lizards of the Caucasus: systematics, ecology and phylogenesis of the polymorphic groups of Caucasian rock lizards of the subgenus Archaeolacerta. Nauka: Leningrad [in Russian: English translation published by the Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre, New Delhi, 1978].
^Tarkhnishvili DN (2012) Evolutionary History, Habitats, Diversification, and Speciation in Caucasian Rock Lizards. In: Advances in Zoology Research, Volume 2 (ed. Jenkins OP), Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge (NY), p.79-120
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