Troodos lizard Phoenicolacerta troodicaTerminology and scalation of lacertids
TheLacertidae are thefamily of thewall lizards,true lizards, or sometimes simplylacertas, which are native toAfro-Eurasia. It is a diverse family with at about 360species in 39genera. They represent the dominant group of reptiles found in Europe.
The European and Mediterranean species of lacertids live mainly inforest andscrub habitats.[1]Eremias andOphisops species replace these in thegrassland anddeserthabitats of Asia. African species usually live in rocky, arid areas.Holaspis species are among the fewarboreal lacertids, and its two species,Holaspis guentheri andHolaspis laevis, are gliders (although apparently poor ones), using their broad tail and flattened body as anaerofoil.[2]
Lacertids are small to medium-sized lizards. Most species are less than 9cm long, excluding the tail. The largest living species,Gallotia stehlini, reaches 46cm, and some extinct forms were larger still. They are primarilyinsectivorous.[1] An exception isMeroles anchietae, one of the few wall lizards that regularly eatseeds – an appropriate food for a lizard of the harshNamib Desert.[clarification needed]
Lacertids are remarkably similar in form, with slender bodies and longtails, but have highly varied patterns and colours, even within the same species. Their scales are large on the head, which often also hasosteoderms, small and granular on the back, and rectangular on the underside. Most species aresexually dimorphic, with the males and females having different patterns.[1]
Lacertids are suspected to have originated in Europe, due to their earliest fossils being found in the region, alongside those of theirsister group, the extinctEolacertidae.[5] Fossils possibly attributable to lacertids are known from thePaleocene of France and Belgium. The oldest definitive lacertid is known from the earlyEocene (Ypresian) inMutigny, France in theParis Basin.[6] Lacertids dispersed into Asia by the earlyOligocene.[7] The timing of the colonisation of Africa is uncertain, ranging from the Eocene to theMiocene.[8]
^abcdBauer, Aaron M. (1998). Cogger, H.G.; Zweifel, R.G. (eds.).Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 163–165.ISBN978-0-12-178560-4.
^Zug, George R. (2001).Herpetology: an introductory biology of amphibians and reptiles. Laurie J. Vitt, Janalee P. Caldwell (2nd ed.). San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press.ISBN0-12-782622-X.OCLC47145828.
^Darevskii IS. 1967. Rock lizards of the Caucasus: systematics, ecology and phylogenesis of the polymorphic groups of Caucasian rock lizards of the subgenusArchaeolacerta. Nauka: Leningrad [in Russian: English translation published by the Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre, New Delhi, 1978].
^Tarkhnishvili DN (2012) Evolutionary History, Habitats, Diversification, and Speciation in Caucasian Rock Lizards. In: Advances in Zoology Research, Volume 2 (ed. Jenkins OP), Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge (NY), p.79-120
^Čerňanský, Andrej; Smith, Krister T. (2017-05-24). "Eolacertidae: a new extinct clade of lizards from the Palaeogene; with comments on the origin of the dominant European reptile group – Lacertidae".Historical Biology.30 (7):994–1014.doi:10.1080/08912963.2017.1327530.ISSN0891-2963.S2CID49546941.
^Tamar, Karin; Carranza, Salvador; Sindaco, Roberto; Moravec, Jiří; Trape, Jean-François; Meiri, Shai (October 2016). "Out of Africa: Phylogeny and biogeography of the widespread genus Acanthodactylus (Reptilia: Lacertidae)".Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.103:6–18.doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.07.003.ISSN1055-7903.PMID27395778.
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