Anguidae refers to a large and diverse family of lizards native to the

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

. Common characteristics of this group include a reduced supratemporal arch, striations on the medial faces of tooth crowns, osteoderms, and a lateral fold in the skin of most taxa. The group includes the slowworms, glass lizards, and alligator lizards, among others. The family is divided into two

subfamilies In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

(Anguinae and Gerrhonotinae), and contains about 87 species in 8

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 ...

Morphology and reproduction

Anguids have hard osteoderms beneath their scales giving them an armored appearance. Many of the species have reduced or absent limbs, giving them a snake-like appearance, while others are fully limbed. Body type varies among species, with sizes ranging from 10 cm to 1.5 m. The group includes

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

and viviparous species, both of which can be observed in a single genus at times.

Feeding and habitat

These lizards are known carnivorous or

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores were ...

foragers, feeding primarily on insects, although larger species have been known to feed on small reptiles and amphibians. They inhabit a wide range of different habitats across the globe, from arid to tropical environments. Most known species are terrestrial or semifossorial, with the exception of one arboreal genus: ''

Abronia ''Abronia'' may refer to: * Abronia (gens), a Roman family of the Augustan age * ''Abronia'' (lizard), a genus of animals commonly known as arboreal alligator lizards * ''Abronia'' (plant), a genus of plants commonly known as sand-verbenas {{disam ...

''.

Evolution

Anguids have a relatively good fossil record and are relatively common as fossils in the Late Cretaceous and

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...

of western North America. The oldest known anguid, with the most complete fossil record of any lizard, is ''

Odaxosaurus ''Odaxosaurus'' is an extinct genus of anguid lizards that existed in western North America from the Late Cretaceous to the Paleocene. Fossils of the type species ''Odaxosaurus piger'' and the species ''O. priscus'' are widespread throughout Late ...

'', a member of the extinct anguid subfamily Glyptosaurinae, from the late Campanian of Canada, about 75 million years ago. ''Odaxosaurus'' and other Late Cretaceous anguids already exhibit many features found in living anguids, including chisel-like teeth and armor plates in the skin, suggesting a long evolutionary history for the group. Anguids were particularly diverse during the Paleocene and Eocene in North America; some species, such as those belonging to Glyptosaurinae, grew to large size and evolved a highly specialized crushing dentition. The long fossil record for the Anguidae in North America suggests that the group probably evolved in North America during the Cretaceous before dispersing to Europe in the Paleogene.

Classification

Family ANGUIDAE * Subfamily Anguinae ** Genus ''

Anguis SlowwormsThe "slow-" in slowworm is distinct from the English adjective ''slow'' ("not fast"); the word comes from Old English ''slāwyrm'', where ''slā-'' means "slowworm" and ''wyrm'' means "serpent, reptile". () (also called blindworms and ha ...

'' - slowworms (five species) ** Genus '' Dopasia'' - Asian glass lizards (seven species) ** Genus '' Hyalosaurus'' - North African glass lizard (one species) ** Genus '' Ophisaurus'' - American glass lizards (five species) ** Genus '' Pseudopus'' - scheltopusik (one extant species) * Subfamily Gerrhonotinae - alligator lizards ** Genus ''

Barisia ''Barisia'' is a genus of lizards in the family Anguidae. The genus is endemic to Mexico. Species The following species are recognized as being valid."''Barisia'' ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org. http://reptile-database.reptari ...

'' - alligator lizards (seven species) ** Genus ''

Gerrhonotus ''Gerrhonotus'' is a genus of anguid lizards that are commonly referred to as alligator lizards, due to a vague resemblance to an alligator. Along with glass lizards (''Ophisaurus'') and many other lizards, alligator lizards have the ability to r ...

'' - alligator lizards (seven species) ** Genus ''

'' - arboreal alligator lizards (37 species) ** Genus '' Elgaria'' - western alligator lizards (seven species) *Subfamily † Glyptosaurinae Genetic evidence indicates that Diploglossinae lies outside the clade containing Anguinae, Gerrhonotinae, and the family Anniellidae, Therefore it has been placed in own separate family Diploglossidae.

References

External links

List of species in the family Anguidae
from the Reptile Database * http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Anguidae/ {{Taxonbar, from=Q191059 Anguids Taxa named by John Edward Gray Lizard families Extant Campanian first appearances