The Phrynosomatidae are a diverse family 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 altho ...

s, sometimes classified as a subfamily (Phrynosomatinae), found from

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

to the extreme south of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. Many members of the group are adapted to life in hot, sandy

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

s, although the spiny lizards prefer rocky deserts or even relatively moist

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

edges, and the short-horned lizard lives in

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

sagebrush Sagebrush is the common name of several woody and herbaceous species of plants in the genus '' Artemisia''. The best known sagebrush is the shrub '' Artemisia tridentata''. Sagebrushes are native to the North American west. Following is an al ...

environments. The group includes both egg-laying and

viviparous Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. This is opposed to oviparity which is a reproductive mode in which females lay developing eggs that complete their development and hatch externally from the ...

species, with the latter being more common in species living at high elevations. The earliest fossil remains of this group are known from the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million ...

and belong to the genus '' Desertiguana''. As phrynosomatids are presently known only from North America, these remains indicate that phrynosomatids likely had a wider distribution in prehistoric times.

Genera

The Phrynosomatidae are organised into 9 genera in this family. The earless taxa (''Cophosaurus'' and ''Holbrookia'') are sister genera. Family Phrynosomatidae * '' Callisaurus'' Blainville, 1835 – zebra-tailed lizards * '' Cophosaurus'' Troschel, 1852 – greater earless lizards * '' Holbrookia'' Girard, 1851 – earless lizards * '' Petrosaurus''

Boulenger Boulenger is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Benjamin Boulenger (born 1990), French footballer * Edward George Boulenger (1888–1946), British zoologist, director of aquarium at London Zoo * George Albert Boulenger (1858– ...

, 1885 – California rock lizards * '' Phrynosoma'' Wiegmann, 1828 – horned lizards * '' Sceloporus'' Wiegmann, 1828 – spiny lizards (or sator) * '' Uma'' Baird, 1859 – fringe-toed lizards * '' Urosaurus'' Hallowell, 1854 – tree and brush lizards * '' Uta'' Baird & Girard, 1852 – side-blotched lizards

References

External links

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Phrynosomatidae Family
Lizard families {{lizard-stub