Overview
Iguania is the suborder of that contains the iguanas, chameleons, agamids, and "New World lizards" such as anoles and Phrynosomatidae.
Photos
Taxonomy
The Infraorder Iguania is a member of the Suborder Lacertilia. Here is the complete "parentage" of Iguania:
- Domain: Eukaryota
Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
- Kingdom: Animalia
Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
- Subkingdom: Bilateria
(Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians
- Branch: Deuterostomia
Grobben, 1908 - Deuterostomes
- Infrakingdom: Chordonia
(Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Phylum: Chordata
Bateson, 1885 - Chordates
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
Cuvier, 1812 - Vertebrates
- Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Auct. - Jawed Vertebrates
- Superclass: Tetrapoda
Goodrich, 1930 - Tetrapods
- Class: Sauropsida
- Subclass: Diapsida
- Infraclass: Lepidosauromorpha
- Superorder: Lepidosauria
- Order: Squamata
(SKWA-ma-tuh)
- snakes, lizards, and amphisbaenians
- Suborder: Lacertilia
- Infraorder: Iguania - Iguanas
- Suborder: Lacertilia
- Order: Squamata
(SKWA-ma-tuh)
- snakes, lizards, and amphisbaenians
- Superorder: Lepidosauria
- Infraclass: Lepidosauromorpha
- Subclass: Diapsida
- Class: Sauropsida
- Superclass: Tetrapoda
Goodrich, 1930 - Tetrapods
- Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Auct. - Jawed Vertebrates
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
Cuvier, 1812 - Vertebrates
- Phylum: Chordata
Bateson, 1885 - Chordates
- Infrakingdom: Chordonia
(Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Branch: Deuterostomia
Grobben, 1908 - Deuterostomes
- Subkingdom: Bilateria
(Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians
- Kingdom: Animalia
Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
The Infraorder Iguania is further organized into finer groupings including:
- Family (11): Agamidae · Chamaeleonidae · Corytophanidae · Crotaphytidae · Hoplocercidae · Iguanidae · Leiosauridae · Opluridae · Phrynosomatidae · Polychrotidae · Tropiduridae
Families
Agamidae
Agamids, lizards of the Agamidae, include more than 300 species in Africa, Asia, Australia, and a few in Southern Europe. Phylogenetically they may be sister to the Iguanidae, and have a similar appearance. Agamids usually have well-developed, strong legs. Their tails cannot be shed and regenerated like those of geckoes, though a certain amount of regeneration is observed in some. Many agamid species are capable of limited change of their colors. They inhabit warm environments, ranging from hot deserts to tropical rainforests. [more]
Chamaeleonidae
Chameleons (family Chamaeleonidae) are that belong to one of the best-known lizard families. The word is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek ?aµa????? (khamaileon), from ?aµa? (khamai) "on the earth, on the ground" + ???? (leon) "lion", translating the Akkadian neš qaqqari, "ground lion". [more]
Corytophanidae
Corytophanidae is a of lizards also called casque head lizards or helmeted lizards. They typically have well-developed head crests in the shape of a casque. This crest is a sexually dimorphic characteristic, found only on males. There are 9 known species of casque heads from 3 genera. [more]
Crotaphytidae
Hoplocercidae
Iguanidae
The Iguanidae is a family of , composed of iguanas and related species. [more]
Leiosauridae
Opluridae
The Opluridae, or Madagascan Iguanas, are a family of moderately sized lizards native to . The family includes species that live amongst rocks, some that live in trees, and one that inhabits sand dunes. All of the species lay eggs, and have teeth that resemble those of the true iguanas. [more]
Phrynosomatidae
Phrynosomatidae is a diverse family of , found from Panama to the extreme south of Canada. Many members of the group are adapted to life in hot, sandy deserts, although the spiny lizards prefer rocky deserts or even relatively moist forest edges, and the short-horned lizard lives in prarie or sagebrush environments. The group includes both egg-laying and viviparous species, with the latter being more common in species living at high elevation. [more]
Polychrotidae
Polychrotidae is a family of commonly known as Anoles . Some authorities (such as NCBI [1]) place the anoles in subfamily Polychrotinae of the family Iguanidae. Four genera are common: Anolis, Norops, Phenacosaurus and Polychrus. [more]
Tropiduridae
The Tropiduridae is a family of lizards native to and the West Indies. Most are ground-dwelling animals, and the family includes some lizards adapted to relatively cold climates, including those of the Andes mountains and Tierra del Fuego. Several species give birth to live young. [more]
At least 535 species and subspecies belong to the Family Tropiduridae.
More info about the Family Tropiduridae may be found here.
Sources
- The text on this page is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It includes material from Wikipedia retrieved Friday, November 14, 2008.
- Photographs on this page are copyrighted by individual photographers, and individual copyrights apply.
- The GMapImageCutter is used under license from the UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis.
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