-
Christina Miller
Last update: Friday, December 21, 2007. |
|
-
Distribution of Agamidae
|
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Subclass: Lepidosauria
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Sauria
Infraorder: Iguania
Family: Agamidae
|
Agamidae contains about 420 species, distributed throughout Africa, Eurasia and Australasia. They are within the iguanian clade Acrodonta, a sister group to all other iguanian lizards. Acrodonta is shared with the chameleons (Chameleonidae). "Acrodonta" relates to their
acrodont dentition (the teeth are affixed to the jawbones). This is where the description "chisel-tooth" originates from.
This family was previously considered to contain two subfamilies, the Agaminae (typical agamas) and Leiolepinae (the uromastyx and butterfly lizards, sometimes classified as a family on its own, Leiolepidae). Other authors split Agamidae into multiple subfamilies: Agaminae (typical agamas), Amphibolurinae (Australian agamids and water dragons), Draconinae (tree and mountain lizards or dragons), Hydrosaurinae (sailfin lizards or hydrosaurs), Leiolepidinae (butterfly lizards) and Uromasticinae (uromastyx or spiny-tailed agamas). The latter family division is preferred here because of the abundance of evidence suggesting the closer relationships between species in these subfamilies.
Agamids vary greatly in colour, many species are brown or gray, but bright, vivid colours are not uncommon (particularly in sexually dichromatic species), and many species can quickly change colour. Many are decorated with crests, spines, spikes and frills, and gular pouches for signalment are common, especially in males. No agamid possesses
osteoderms, and scales are obvious and often
keeled but still variable in size and shape. The fifth toe is either absent or reduced, and they have long, unfragile tails. Most cannot perform caudal autotomy, and those that do produce intervertebral breakages. The eyes and eyelids are well-developed, and the ear openings are external and rarely covered by scales. The tongue is thick, fleshy and has a slight notch at the tip.
These lizards are very visually-oriented, and rely mostly on sight as their cue for prey and conspecific communication. A variety of behavioural body language is employed, including head bobs, pushups, and arm waves.
- Further Information:
-
-
-
-
Sources:
-
Ananjeva, NB, TN Dujsebayeva and U Joger. 2001. Morphological Study of the Squamate Integument: More Evidence for the Metataxon Status of Leiolepidinae. Journal of Herpetology. 35(3): 507-510.
-
Estes R, K de Querioz, and J Gauthier. 1988. Phylogenetic Relationships within Squamata. In: R Estes and G Pregill (eds), Phylogenetic Relationships of the Lizard Families. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
-
Frost D R, and R Etheridge. 1989. A phylogenetic analysis and taxonomy of iguanian lizards (Reptilia: Squamata). University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Miscellanous Publications. 81: 65.
-
Halliday, T and K Adler. 2002. Firefly Encylopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. Buffalo, NY: Firefly Books, Ltd.
-
Hickman CP, LS Roberts, A Larson and H L'Anson. 2004. Integrated Principles of Zoology. 12th edition. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill Publishing.
- Honda M, H Ota, M Kobayashi, J Nabhitabhata, H-S Yong, S Sengoku, T Hikida. 2000. Phylogenetic relationships of the family Agamidae (Reptilia: Iguania) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences. Zoological Science. 17:527–537.
- Macey JR, JA Schulte 2nd, A Larson, NB Ananjeva, Y Wang, R Pethiyagoda, N Rastegar-Pouyani, TJ Papenfuss. 2000. Evaluating trans-tethys migration: an example using acrodont lizard phylogenetics. Systematic Biology. 49: 233–256.
- Moody SM. 1987. A preliminary cladistic study of the lizard genus Uromastyx (Agamidae, sensu lato), with a checklist and diagnostic key to the species. In: JJ van Gelder, H Strijbosch, PJM Bergers (eds), Proceedings of the Fourth Ordinary General Meeting of the Society of European Herpetology. Nijmegen, Holland. 285–288.
- Pianka, ER and LJ Vitt. 2003. Lizards: Windows to the Evolution of Diversity. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
- "The Reptile Database." 2007. Uetz, P and J Hallermann. <http://www.reptile-database.org>
Further Reading:
|
