Order Squamata
Infraorder Scincomorpha

Family Teiidae (Whiptails and Tegus)

	Appearance: Body form elongate; head pointed; neck, trunk, and tail long; limbs well developed; body scalation consists of dorsal granular scales and large, rectangular ventral plates; the head bears large plates. Distribution: North through South America, Caribbean. Habitat: Teiids inhabit a wide variety of habitats from xeric scrub and sparse grasslands to rain forest.
Dracaena guianensis, © Ingo Kober

Size: 7-50 cm snout-vent length. Teiids divide into two size groups. One group contains Tupinambis, a large (>30 cm SVL) carnivore that preys on vertebrates as well as arthropods. The other group contains the smaller taxa; they are mostly <16 cm SVL (<36 cm TL) and include Ameiva, Cnemidophorus, Kentropyx, and a few other genera.

Food: mainly insectivorous, although the heavier-bodied Dracaena specializes on snails.

Behaviour: speedy motile-search life-style; most are eurythermic and appear only when diurnal temperatures are high and permit constant activity.

Reproduction: oviparous; Cnemidophorus, Kentropyx, and Teius includes unisexual and bisexual species; unisexual species are often sympatric with one or more bisexual species. Unisexuality has also been demonstrated in.

Relationships: The family Teiidae previously contained the Gymnophthalmidae which is now treated as a separate family (previously a subfamily, Gymnophthalminae).

Taxonomic notes: Reeder et al. (2002) found the cnemidophorines (Ameiva, Cnemidophorus, and Kentropyx) to be a monophyletic group. However, the monophyly of Cnemidophorus was not supported, with the lemniscatus group taxa being more closely related to other neotropical neotropical cnemidophorines (i.e., Ameiva and Kentropyx) than to a strongly supported North American clade of Cnemidophorus (consisting of the deppii, sexlineatus, and tigris groups). The traditional lemniscatus group is also paraphyletic.

Reeder et al. also found strong support for the monophyly of the deppii, sexlineatus, and tigris groups of the North American ''Cnemidophorus'' clade. Only two clades within the sexlineatus group were strongly supported: the ''Cnemidophorus'' gularis complex, and the ''C.'' inornatus + ''C.'' sexlineatus clade.

The monophyly of Ameiva is rejected.

Because of the paraphyly of ''Cnemidophorus'', taxonomic changes were recommended. The name Aspidoscelis Fitzinger, 1843, is resurrected to accommodate the taxa of the North American clade of ''Cnemidophorus''.

Until additional data (i.e., taxa and characters) are collected, Reeder et al. suggest to apply the name ''Cnemidophorus'' to the ''lemniscatus group'', but acknowledge its paraphyly. Ultimately, Cnemidophorus will likely be restricted to the clade containing C. murinus and the C. lemniscatus complex.

List of Genera:

Click on genus to get a list of species. Use the Search form for more sophisticated searches (HELP on Search).

Giugliano et al. (2007) presented the following phylogeny based on combined mtDNA and morphological data:

Note that the position of the Dracaena/Tupinambis/Crocodilurus clade is firmly established.

References:

Fitzgerald, Lee A., Joseph A. Cook and A. Luz Aquino 1999
Molecular phylogenetics and conservation of Tupinambis (Sauria: Teiidae).
Copeia 1999 (4): 894-905.

GALLAGHER-D-S-JR. DIXON-J-R. 1992
Taxonomic revision of the South American lizard genus Kentropyx Spix (Sauria, Teiidae).
Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali Bollettino (Torino) 10 (1): 125-171

Giugliano, Lilian G.; Rosane Garcia Collevatti and Guarino Rinaldi Colli (2007)
Molecular dating and phylogenetic relationships among Teiidae (Squamata) inferred by molecular and morphological data.
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 45: 168-179

Maslin, T. & Secoy,D.M. 1986
A checklist of the lizard genus Cnemidophorus (Teiidae).
Contr. Zool. Univ. Colorado Mus. 1: 1-60

Peters,J.A.,Donoso-Barros,R. & Vanzolini,P.E. (1986)
Catalogue of the Neotropical Squamata (Revised Edition)
Part II: Lizards and Amphisbaenians
Smithsonian Institution Press (Washington D.C., London)
ISBN 0-87474-757-0

PRESCH,W. 1973
A review of the tejus lizard genus Tupinambis (Sauria: Teiidae) from South America.
Copeia 1973 (4): 740-746

Presch, William 1974
Evolutionary relationships and biogeography of the macroteiid lizards (Family Teiidae, Subfamily Teiinae).
Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 73 (1): 23-32

Presch, W. 1983
The lizard family Teiidae: is it a monophyletic group?
Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 77: 189-197

REEDER,T.W.; CHARLES J. COLE AND HERBERT C. DESSAUER (2002)
Phylogenetic Relationships of Whiptail Lizards of the Genus Cnemidophorus (Squamata: Teiidae): A Test of Monophyly, Reevaluation of Karyotypic Evolution, and Review of Hybrid Origins.
American Museum Novitates 3365: 1-64

Vanzolini,P.E. & Valencia,J. 1966
The genus Dracaena, with a brief consideration of macroteiid relationships (Sauria, Teiidae).
Arq. Zool. 13 [1965]: 7-35

Zug,G.R.; Vitt, L.J. & Caldwell, J.P. (2001)
Herpetology, 2nd ed.
Academic Press San Diego, London, [...]XIV + 630 pp.

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