''Gerrhosaurus'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of
lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
s native to southern and eastern
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
Habitat
Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of ''Gerrhosaurus'' are found in dry, rocky semi-open
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s.
Species and subspecies
The following species and
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
are recognized as being valid.
["''Gerrhosaurus'' ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile=database.org.] Some have been reassigned to new
genera
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...
.
*''
Gerrhosaurus auritus'' – Kalahari plated lizard
*''
Gerrhosaurus bulsi''
*''
Gerrhosaurus flavigularis'' – yellow-throated plated lizard
**''Gerrhosaurus flavigularis fitzsimonsi''
**''Gerrhosaurus flavigularis flavigularis''
*''
Gerrhosaurus multilineatus''
*''
Gerrhosaurus nigrolineatus'' – black-lined plated lizard
**''Gerrhosaurus nigrolineatus ahlefeldti''
** ''Gerrhosaurus nigrolineatus nigrolineatus''
*''
Gerrhosaurus skoogi'' – desert plated lizard
*''
Gerrhosaurus typicus'' – Namaqua plated lizard
References
Further reading
*Bates MF, Tolley KA, Edwards S, Davids Z, Da Silva JM,
Branch WR (2013). "A molecular phylogeny of the African plated lizards, genus ''Gerrhosaurus'' Wiegmann, 1828 (Squamata: Gerrhosauridae), with the description of two new genera". ''Zootaxa'' 3750 (5): 465–493. (''Broadleysaurus'' and ''Matobosaurus'', new genera).
*
Branch, Bill (2004). ''Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa''. Third Revised edition, Second impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. . (Genus ''Gerrhosaurus'', p. 178).
*
Wiegmann AF (1828). "''Beiträge zur Amphibienkunde'' ". ''Isis von Oken'' 21 (4): 364–383. (''Gerrhosaurus'', new genus, p. 375). (in German).
Gerrhosauridae
Lizards of Africa
Lizard genera
Taxa named by Arend Friedrich August Wiegmann
{{Lizard-stub