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Lepidosaur Herbivory
Lepidosaur herbivory describes herbivorous lepidosaurs. Living non-avian reptiles form a paraphyletic group that consists of over 9,000 species of crocodiles, turtles, and lepidosaurs. The most diverse group, Lepidosauria, is first known from the Middle Triassic (240 million years ago) fossils, but likely originated in the Permian (approximately 300-250 million years ago).Jones, M. E. H., Anderson, C. L., Hipsley, C. A., Müller, J., Evans, S. E., and R. R. Schoch. 2013. Integration of molecules and new fossils supports a Triassic origin for Lepidosauria (lizards, snakes, and tuatara). BMC Evolutionary Biology 13:208–229. Living lepidosaurs, which include snakes, lizards, and rhynchocephalians, occupy a wide range of environments and niches. The lepidosaurs have many similar anatomical morphology like transverse cloaca, distal tongue, superficial teeth attachment, fused pelvic bones etc. Though widely viewed as obligate carnivores, a small number of lepidosaurs are known to consume ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbivorous
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthparts adapted to rasping or grinding. Horses and other herbivores have wide flat teeth that are adapted to grinding grass, tree bark, and other tough plant material. A large percentage of herbivores have mutualistic gut flora that help them digest plant matter, which is more difficult to digest than animal prey. This flora is made up of cellulose-digesting protozoans or bacteria. Etymology Herbivore is the anglicized form of a modern Latin coinage, ''herbivora'', cited in Charles Lyell's 1830 ''Principles of Geology''.J.A. Simpson and E.S.C. Weiner, eds. (2000) ''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. 8, p. 155. Richard Owen employed the anglicized term in an 1854 work on fossil teeth and skeletons. ''Herbivora'' is derived from Latin ''herba' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snakes
Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads (cranial kinesis). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of the other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung. Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca. Lizards have evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs about twenty-five times independently via convergent evolution, leading to many lineages of legless lizards. These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, although this rule is not universal (see Amphisbaenia, D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macroscincus
''Chioninia coctei'' (also called Bibron's skink, the Cape Verde giant skink, Cocteau's skink, and ''lagarto'' in Portuguese) was a species of lizard that was at one time known to inhabit the islets of Branco and Raso in the Cape Verde islands of the Atlantic Ocean, islets rendered deserts by human-caused habitat destruction. None has been observed since the early 20th century, and the species was officially declared extinct in 2013. Taxonomy The specific name, ''coctei'', is in honor of French physician and zoologist Jean Théodore Cocteau (1798–1838). It has been found through mitochondrial DNA sequences that ''C. coctei'' was most closely related to the skink genus ''Mabuya''. Description ''C. coctei'' was very large for a skink. Adults could attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of , and the cylindrical tail was as long as the head and body. Behaviour and ecology ''C. coctei'' was largely herbivorous, but whether out of necessity with deteriorating conditions or from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Egernia
''Egernia'' is a genus of skinks (family Scincidae) that occurs in Australia. These skinks are ecologically diverse omnivores that inhabit a wide range of habitats. However, in the loose delimitation (which incorporates about 30 species) the genus is not monophyletic but an evolutionary grade, as has long been suspected due to its lack of characteristic apomorphies. Some of the skinks traditionally placed in ''Egernia'' appear to be among the most intelligent squamates. They have been shown to be able to distinguish between relatives and unrelated conspecifics, and can recognize relatives individually. Several species form monogamous pair-bonds. For instance, the Black Rock Skink is a species who can perform kin discrimination based on scent and form monogamous pair-bonds and a nuclear family structure. Most of these species belong to ''Egernia sensu stricto'', and similar behaviour is also known in the related Solomon Islands skink (''Corucia zebrata''). The latter means that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corucia
The Solomon Islands skink (''Corucia zebrata''), also known as prehensile-tailed skink, monkey-tailed skink, giant skink, zebra skink, and monkey skink, is an arboreal species of skink endemic to the Solomon Islands archipelago. It is the largest known extant species of skink. The Solomon Islands skink is completely herbivorous, eating many different fruits and vegetables including the pothos plant. It is one of the few species of reptile known to function within a social group or circulus. Both male and female specimens are known to be territorial and often hostile towards members not a part of their family group. ''Corucia'' is a monotypic genus, containing a single species. However, in 1997 it was determined that there are two subspecies of the Solomon Islands skink: the common monkey-tailed skink (''Corucia zebrata zebrata'') and the northern monkey-tailed skink (''Corucia zebrata alfredschmidti)''. Among other variances, the northern skink is smaller and has darker ey ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teiidae
Teiidae is a family of autarchoglossan lizards native to the Americas. Members of this family are generally known as whiptails or racerunners; however, tegus also belong to this family. Teiidae is sister to the Gymnopthalmidae, and both families comprise the Teiioidea. The Teiidae includes several parthenogenic species – a mode of clonal reproduction. Presently, the Teiidae consists of approximately 150 species in eighteen genera. Morphology and behavior Teiids can be distinguished from other lizards by the following characteristics: they have large rectangular scales that form distinct transverse rows ventrally and generally small granular scales dorsally, they have head scales that are separate from the skull bones, and the teiid teeth are solid at the base and "glued" to the jaw bones. Additionally, all teiids have a forked, snake-like tongue. They all possess well-developed limbs. Teiids are all terrestrial (few are semi-aquatic) and diurnal, and are primarily carnivor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerrhosauridae
The Gerrhosauridae are a family of lizards native to Africa and Madagascar. Habitat Also known as plated lizards, species in the family Gerrhosauridae live in a range of habitats, from rocky crevices to sand dunes. Description Their form is variable, some species having four fully developed limbs, and others having vestigial hind limbs only. Reproduction Most species are believed to be oviparous. Classification Family Gerrhosauridae *Subfamily Gerrhosaurinae **Genus '' Broadleysaurus'' - rough-scaled plated lizard (1 species) **Genus '' Cordylosaurus'' - blue-black plated lizard (1 species) **Genus ''Gerrhosaurus'' - (7 species) **Genus '' Matobosaurus'' - (2 species) **Genus '' Tetradactylus'' - (8 species) *Subfamily Zonosaurinae **Genus '' Tracheloptychus'' - keeled plated lizards (2 species) **Genus '' Zonosaurus'' - zonosaurs (17 species) References Further reading * Boulenger GA (1887). ''Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Editio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lacertidae
The Lacertidae are the family (biology), family of the wall lizards, true lizards, or sometimes simply lacertas, which are native to Afro-Eurasia. It is a diverse family with at least 300 species in 39 genera. They represent the dominant group of reptiles found in Europe. The group includes the genus ''Lacerta (genus), Lacerta'', which contains some of the most commonly seen lizard (thus "true" lizard) species in Europe. Habitat The European and Mediterranean species of lacertids live mainly in forest and scrubland, scrub habitats. ''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. Description Lacertids are small or medium-sized lizards. Most species are le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scincomorpha
Scincomorpha is an infraorder and clade of lizards including skinks (Scincidae) and their close relatives. These include the living families Cordylidae (girdled lizards), Gerrhosauridae (plated lizards), and Xantusiidae (night lizards), as well as many extinct taxa. Other roughly equivalent terms include the suborder Scinciformata, or the superfamily Scincoidea, though different authors use these terms in a broader or more restricted usage relative to true skinks. They first appear in the fossil record about 170 million years ago, during the Jurassic period.Evans, S.E. and Jones, M.E.H. (2010). "The Origin, Early History and Diversification of Lepidosauromorph Reptiles," pp. 27-44 in Bandyopadhyay, S. (ed.), ''New Aspects of Mesozoic Biodiversity'', 27 Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences 132./ref> The phylogeny below follows that of Alifanov in 2016. Image:Polyglyphanadon sternbergi - IMG 0694.jpg, '' Polyglyphanodon, Polyglyphanodon sternbergi'' File:Bronze Grass Skink (Mabuya ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iguanidae
The Iguanidae is a family of lizards composed of the iguanas, chuckwallas, and their prehistoric relatives, including the widespread green iguana. Taxonomy Iguanidae is thought to be the sister group to the collared lizards (family Crotaphytidae); the two groups likely diverged during the Late Cretaceous, as that is when ''Pristiguana'' and ''Pariguana'', the two earliest fossil genera, are known from. The subfamily Iguaninae, which contains all modern genera, likely originated in the earliest Paleocene, at about 62 million years ago. The most basal extant genus, '' Dipsosaurus,'' diverged from the rest of Iguaninae during the late Eocene, about 38 million years ago, with '' Brachylophus'' following a few million years later at about 35 million years ago, presumably after its dispersal event to the Pacific. All other modern iguana genera formed in the Neogene period. A phylogenetic tree of Iguaninae is shown here: Description Iguanas and iguana-type species are divers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varanus Olivaceus
The Gray's monitor (''Varanus olivaceus'') is a large (180 cm, >9 kg) monitor lizard known only from lowland dipterocarp forest in southern Luzon, Catanduanes, and Polillo Island, all islands in the Philippines. It is also known as Gray's monitor lizard, butaan, and ornate monitor. It belongs to the subgenus ''Philippinosaurus''. It is largely arboreal and extremely shy. The Northern Sierra Madre monitor lizard was thought to be of same species with Gray's monitor until a research concluded in 2010 that northern populations of Gray's monitor was a distinct species, now known as ''V. bitatawa''. Ecology Diet It is well known for its diet, which consists primarily of ripe fruit, especially '' Pandanus''. A number of prey items are, however, also consumed, including snails, crabs, spiders, beetles, birds and eggs. Monitors are generally carnivorous animals, which makes the Gray's monitor somewhat of an exception amongst the varanid family. Such an unusual diet may b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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