Order Squamata
Suborder Sauria

Family Tropiduridae (Neotropical Ground Lizards)

sensu Frost & Etheridge (1989). Also called Tropidurinae. Please note that Frost et al. (2001b) also elevated the Leiocephalinae and the Liolaeminae to family status (Leiocephalidae and Liolaemidae) although this is a somewhat arbitrary decision.

Tropidurus plica (= Plica plica) from Brazil. © Laurie J. Vitt.

Appearance: Tropidurids are small- to moderate-sized lizards, with a distinct head and neck, well developed limbs and toes, and tails that are typically at least as long (often longer) than the body. Although most are cryptically colored to match their surroundings, a number of species have bold and colorful body patterns in red, blue, yellow, and green. Most have coarse body scales and a few are very spiny in appearance (e.g., some Liolaemus). Some have dorsal crests (Leiocephalus, Microlophus, and some Tropidurus) or spiny tails (Phymaturus and some Tropidurus). A few are wide-bodied with dorsoventrally flattened torsos (Phymaturus and some Tropidurus), whereas others are slender and elongate.

Distribution: South America (including the Galápagos Islands), Caribbean, USA (introduced to Florida).

Habitat: Tropidurids are extremely variable ecologically. They inhabit rain forests, dry forests, savannas, and deserts. A number of species belonging to the genera Liolaemus and Phymaturus occur in the high mountain regions of the Andes. Several Liolaemus reach the maximum elevation recorded for any squamate reptile (just over 5000 m elevation) although similar claims have been made for Tibetan species of the agamid genus Phrynocephalus. Liolaemus magellanicus also boasts the highest latitudinal record for a reptile at about 54º South latitude (Tierra del Fuego). Most are terrestrial generalists, but several Tropidurinae are equally at home in trees or on rocks. Phymaturus and some Liolaemus are also restricted to rock outcrops. A number of sand-dwelling Liolaemus possess morphological and behavioral specializations for living in this unique environment.

Size: Tropidurids range from about 4 to 15 cm snout-vent length.

Food: The varied food habits of tropidurids reflect their ecological diversity. Although most are insectivores or omnivores, some are herbivorous (all Phymaturus, and some Liolaemus). Several Leiocephalus, Liolaemus, and Tropidurus also feed on flowers and fruits when these food items become seasonally available. A few species of Liolaemus and Tropidurus are ant specialists.

Behaviour: Tropidurids are diurnal and those that have been studied behaviorally regulate their body temperatures above those of the ambient environment. Seasonal activity is usually dependent on climatic conditions. Many species are difficult to approach closely and will retreat to nearby cover (sand, rodent burrows, shrubs, trees, crevices, or rocks) when pursued. Males may exhibit territorial and sexual displays involving stereotypic head and body movements. There is some evidence for post-partum parental associations between mothers and young in some viviparous Liolaemus and Phymaturus.

Reproduction: Ctenoblepharys, Leiocephalus, and the genera belonging to Tropidurinae are oviparous. Phymaturus are viviparous. About half of all Liolaemus are viviparous and this reproductive mode is correlated with high latitude or high elevation environments. A number of oviparous species of Liolaemus deposit their eggs in advanced stages of development. Reproductive activity and output varies widely depending on the species and climate and a variety of reproductive cycles has been identified. Females of some species exhibit gravid-female coloration.

Relationships: Tropidurids are considered to be a subfamily of the Iguanidae by some authorities, however, whether this family actually forms a natural lineage is not known. See Traditional classification of iguanian lizards for such an older classification scheme.

Ophryoessoides and Proctotretus are considered synonyms of Stenocercus by Frost. He also considers Tapinurus, Plica and Uracentron as synonyms of Tropidurus. Platynotus is an objective synonym of Tapinurus, which has been synonymized to Tropidurus. Strobilurus has been synonymized with Tropidurus. Vilcunia has been synonymized with Liolaemus by Etheridge (1995) and Schulte et al. (2000).

Subfamily Leiocephalinae

Leiocephalus

Subfamily Liolaeminae (or Liolaemidae)

Ctenoblepharys

Liolaemus

Phymaturus

Abas, Ceiolaemus, Pelusaurus are considered synonyms of Liolaemus by Frost & Etheridge (1989).

Subfamily Tropidurinae

Microlophus Plesiomicrolophus Plica

Stenocercus Tropidurus Uracentron

Uranoscodon

Frost et al. (2001a) introduced a new genus, Eurolophosaurus, for the T. nanuzae group (T. nanuzae, T. amathites, and T. divaricatus). These authors also resurrected Plica, Strobilurus, and Uracentron, mainly for reasons of stability (and because it is logically consistent with phylogeny). Plesiomicrolophus has been included in Microlophus in this paper. For diagnoses of these genera see Frost et al. (2001).

Torres-Carvajal et al. (2006) erected a couple of new clades within the genus Stenocercus based on DNA sequence analysis, namely Senocercus (Duméril and Bibron, 1837), Anatomegalepis, Boreomegalepis, and Scelotrema (Tschudi, 1845) including Microphractus (Günther, 1859b), Microphractoides, and Saccodeira (Girard, 1857).

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

References:

Diaz Gómez, J.M. & Lobo, F. 2006
Historical Biogeography of a Clade of Liolaemus (Iguania: Liolaemidae) based on ancestral areas and Dispersal-Vicariance Analysis (Diva).
Pap. Avuls. Zool. (São Paulo) 46 (24): 261-274

Etheridge, Richard E. (1966)
The systematic relationships of West Indian and South American lizards referred to the iguanid genus Leiocephalus.
Copeia 1966 (1): 79-91

Etheridge, Richard (1968)
A review of the iguanid lizard genera Uracentron and Strobilurus.
Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Zoology 17 (2): 47-64

Etheridge, R. (1970)
A review of the South American Iguanid lizard genus Plica.
Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Zoology 19 (7): 237-256

Etheridge, R. (1995)
Redescription of Ctenoblepharys adspersa Tschudi, 1845, and the taxonomy of Liolaeminae (Reptilia: Squamata: Tropiduridae).
American Museum of Natural History Novitates 3142:1-34.

Etheridge, R. and R. E. Espinoza. 2000.
Taxonomy of the Liolaeminae (Squamata: Iguania: Tropiduridae) and a semi-annotated bibliography.
Smithsonian Herpetological Information Service No. 126, 64 pp.

Frost,D.E. & Etheridge,R.E. (1989)
A Phylogenetic Analysis and Taxonomy of Iguanian Lizards (Reptilia: Squamata)
Univ. Kansas Mus. Nat. Hist. Misc. Publ. 81

Frost, Darrel R., Miguel T. Rodrigues, Taran Grant, and Tom A. Titus (2001a)
Phylogenetics of the Lizard Genus Tropidurus (Squamata: Tropiduridae: Tropidurinae): Direct Optimization, Descriptive Efficiency, and Sensitivity Analysis of Congruence Between Molecular Data and Morphology.
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 21 (3): 352-371

Frost, D.R.; Etheridge, R.; Janies, D. & Titus, T.A. (2001b)
Total evidence, sequence alignment, evolution of Polychrotid lizards, and a reclassification of the Iguania (Squamata: Iguania).
American Museum Novitates 3343: 38 pp.

Lobo, F. and S. Quinteros 2005
A morphology-based phylogeny of Phymaturus (Iguania: Liolaemidae) with the description of four new species from Argentina.
Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia (São Paulo) 45(13):143-177

Pregill,G.K. (1992)
Systematics of the West Indian Lizard Genus Leiocephalus (Squamata: Iguania: Tropiduridae).
Univ. Kansas Mus. Nat. Hist. Misc. Publ. No. 84: 1-69

Schulte, J. A. II, J. R. Macey, R. E. Espinoza, and A. Larson. (2000)
Phylogenetic relationships in the iguanid lizard genus Liolaemus: multiple origins of viviparous reproduction and evidence for recurring Andean vicariance and dispersal.
Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 69:75-102.

Torres-Carvajal, Omar; James A. Schulte II and John E. Cadle (2006)
Phylogenetic relationships of South American lizards of the genus Stenocercus (Squamata: Iguania): A new approach using a general mixture model for gene sequence data.
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39 (1): 171-185

Torres-Carvajal, O. 2007
Phylogeny and biogeography of a large radiation of Andean lizards (Iguania, Stenocercus).
Zoologica Scripta 36 (4): 311-326

BACK to the THE REPTILE DATABASE Home Page