Anguidae Research Articles

An assessment of vouchered records and field observations of the rare anguid, Dopasia buettikoferi (Lidth de Jeude, 1905) in Borneo

We report recent observations, two new locality records and an updated overview of the distribution of Dopasia buettikoferi (Lidth de Jeude, 1905) from Borneo, as well as photographic documentation of this species showing colouration and patterns in living individuals and the holotype. This note represents the first complete compilation of distributional knowledge of this rarely-encountered member of the family Anguidae.

Male-Male Combat in <i>Pseudopus apodus</i> (Reptilia: Anguidae)

Despite its interesting diversity, life history and evolution, the family Anguidae is one of the least-explored group of lizards in the world. The same is true for the largest member of the family, Pseudopus apodus . Life history data on this species are still very scarce. Here, I present the observation of ritualized male-male combat based on two records from Kyrgyzstan and Greece. Male-male combat is an interesting phenomenon in different aspects of P. apodus life history including mating behavior, sexual size dimorphism or intra-sexual competition. Therefore, in this article I present the first description of male-male combat for P. apodus and make comparisons with this phenomenon in the closely related genus Anguis .

Male-Male Combat in <i>Pseudopus apodus</i> (Reptilia: Anguidae)

Despite its interesting diversity, life history and evolution, the family Anguidae is one of the least-explored group of lizards in the world. The same is true for the largest member of the family, Pseudopus apodus . Life history data on this species are still very scarce. Here, I present the observation of ritualized male-male combat based on two records from Kyrgyzstan and Greece. Male-male combat is an interesting phenomenon in different aspects of P. apodus life history including mating behavior, sexual size dimorphism or intra-sexual competition. Therefore, in this article I present the first description of male-male combat for P. apodus and make comparisons with this phenomenon in the closely related genus Anguis .

Diploglossus lessonae Peracca, 1890 (Squamata: Anguidae): new records from northeast Brazil and notes on distribution

The family Anguidae contains three subfamilies: Gerrhonotinae, Anguinae, and Diploglossinae. In Brazil, there are four described anguid species, all from the subfamily Diploglossinae. Herein, we present the first records of Diploglossus lessonae Peracca, 1890 from the state of Sergipe and new records for the states of Paraíba and Ceará. The records compiled here for the Caatinga can reveal a pattern of widely distributed species in the biome.

First record of fossil Ophisaurus (Anguimorpha, Anguidae) from Asia

Citation for this article: Vasilyan, D., M. Böhme, and J. Klembara. 2016. First record of fossil Ophisaurus (Anguimorpha, Anguidae) from Asia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2016.1219739.

Spermiogenesis in the imbricate alligator lizard,Barisia imbricata(Reptilia, Squamata, Anguidae)

Although the events of spermiogenesis are commonly studied in amniotes, the amount of research available for Squamata is lacking. Many studies have described the morphological characteristics of mature spermatozoa in squamates, but few detail the ultrastructural changes that occur during spermiogenesis. This study's purpose is to gain a better understanding of the subcellular events of spermatid development within the Imbricate Alligator Lizard, Barisia imbricata. The morphological data presented here represent the first complete ultrastructural study of spermiogenesis within the family Anguidae. Samples of testes from four specimens collected on the northwest side of the Nevado de Toluca, México, were prepared using standard techniques for transmission electron microscopy. Many of the ultrastructural changes occurring during spermiogenesis within B. imbricata are similar to that of other squamates (i.e., early acrosome formation, chromatin condensation, flagella formation, annulus present, and a prominent manchette). However, there are a few unique characteristics within B. imbricata spermatids that to date have not been described during spermiogenesis in other squamates. For example, penetration of the acrosomal granule into the subacrosomal space to form the basal plate of the perforatorium during round spermatid development, the clover-shaped morphology of the developing nuclear fossa of the flagellum, and the bulbous shape to the perforatorium are all unique to the Imbricate Alligator Lizard. These anatomical character differences may be valuable nontraditional data that along with more traditional matrices (such as DNA sequences and gross morphological data) may help elucidate phylogenetic relationships, which are historically considered controversial within Squamata.

Reptiles, Squamata, Parque Natural Municipal da Taquara, municipality of Duque de Caxias, state of Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil

Herein we report a list of the reptiles from Parque Natural Municipal da Taquara, municipality of Duque de Caxias, state of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil, an area situated in the Atlantic Rainforest Domain. The study was carried out from September 2006 to October 2008. We recorded 31 species of Squamate reptiles: one species of the family Amphisbaenidae; eight species of lizards of the families Anguidae (n = 1), Gekkonidae (1), Phyllodactylidae (1), Polychrotidae (1), Scincidae (1), Teiidae (2), and Tropiduridae (1); and 22 species of snakes of the families Boidae (2), Colubridae (6), Dipsadidae (11), Elapidae (1), and Viperidae (2). Our study indicates that the PNMT is an important area for the conservation of the Squamate reptile assemblages that inhabit lowlands of Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil.

Three additional lizard (Squamata: Sauria) records for Mizoram, India

We collected three additional species - Calotes maria, Calotes mystaceus and Ophisaurus gracilis which were not recorded previously from Mizoram. Ophisaurus gracilis (Family Anguidae) represents a new family for the state.

How lizards turn into snakes: a phylogenetic analysis of body-form evolution in anguid lizards.

One of the most striking morphological transformations in vertebrate evolution is the transition from a lizardlike body form to an elongate, limbless (snakelike) body form. Despite its dramatic nature, this transition has occurred repeatedly among closely related species (especially in squamate reptiles), making it an excellent system for studying macroevolutionary transformations in body plan. In this paper, we examine the evolution of body form in the lizard family Anguidae, a clade in which multiple independent losses of limbs have occurred. We combine a molecular phylogeny for 27 species, our morphometric data, and phylogenetic comparative methods to provide the first statistical phylogenetic tests of several long-standing hypotheses for the evolution of snakelike body form. Our results confirm the hypothesized relationships between body elongation and limb reduction and between limb reduction and digit reduction. However, we find no support for the hypothesized sequence going from body elongation to limb reduction to digit loss, and we show that a burrowing lifestyle is not a necessary correlate of limb loss. We also show that similar degrees of overall body elongation are achieved in two different ways in anguids, that these different modes of elongation are associated with different habitat preferences, and that this dichotomy in body plan and ecology is widespread in limb-reduced squamates. Finally, a recent developmental study has proposed that the transition from lizardlike to snakelike body form involves changes in the expression domains of midbody Hox genes, changes that would link elongation and limb loss and might cause sudden transformations in body form. Our results reject this developmental model and suggest that this transition involves gradual changes occurring over relatively long time scales.

HOW LIZARDS TURN INTO SNAKES: A PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS OF BODY-FORM EVOLUTION IN ANGUID LIZARDS

One of the most striking morphological transformations in vertebrate evolution is the transition from a lizardlike body form to an elongate, limbless (snakelike) body form. Despite its dramatic nature, this transition has occurred repeatedly among closely related species (especially in squamate reptiles), making it an excellent system for studying macroevolutionary transformations in body plan. In this paper, we examine the evolution of body form in the lizard family Anguidae, a clade in which multiple independent losses of limbs have occurred. We combine a molecular phylogeny for 27 species, our morphometric data, and phylogenetic comparative methods to provide the first statistical phylogenetic tests of several long-standing hypotheses for the evolution of snakelike body form. Our results confirm the hypothesized relationships between body elongation and limb reduction and between limb reduction and digit reduction. However, we find no support for the hypothesized sequence going from body elongation to limb reduction to digit loss, and we show that a burrowing lifestyle is not a necessary correlate of limb loss. We also show that similar degrees of overall body elongation are achieved in two different ways in anguids, that these different modes of elongation are associated with different habitat preferences, and that this dichotomy in body plan and ecology is widespread in limb-reduced squamates. Finally, a recent developmental study has proposed that the transition from lizardlike to snakelike body form involves changes in the expression domains of midbody Hox genes, changes that would link elongation and limb loss and might cause sudden transformations in body form. Our results reject this developmental model and suggest that this transition involves gradual changes occurring over relatively long time scales.Corresponding Editor: T. Garland Jr.

Molecular Phylogenetics, tRNA Evolution, and Historical Biogeography in Anguid Lizards and Related Taxonomic Families

Phylogenetic relationships among lizards of the families Anguidae, Anniellidae, Xenosauridae, and Shinisauridae are investigated using 2001 aligned bases of mitochondrial DNA sequence from the genes encoding ND1 (subunit one of NADH dehydrogenase), tRNAIle, tRNAGln, tRNAMet, ND2, tRNATrp, tRNAAla, tRNAAsn, tRNACys, tRNATyr, and COI (subunit I of cytochrome c oxidase), plus the origin for light-strand replication (OL) between the tRNAAsn and the tRNACys genes. The aligned sequences contain 1013 phylogenetically informative characters. A well-resolved phylogenetic hypothesis is obtained. Because monophyly of the family Xenosauridae (Shinisaurus and Xenosaurus) is statistically rejected, we recommend placing Shinisaurus in a separate family, the Shinisauridae. The family Anniellidae and the anguid subfamilies Gerrhonotinae and Anguinae each form monophyletic groups receiving statistical support. The Diploglossinae*, which appears monophyletic, is retained as a metataxon (denoted with an asterisk) because its monophyly is statistically neither supported nor rejected. The family Anguidae appears monophyletic in analyses of the DNA sequence data, and statistical support for its monophyly is provided by reanalysis of previously published allozymic data. Anguid lizards appear to have had a northern origin in Laurasia. Taxa currently located on Gondwanan plates arrived there by dispersal from the north in two separate events, one from the West Indies to South America and another from a Laurasian plate to Morocco. Because basal anguine lineages are located in western Eurasia and Morocco, formation of the Atlantic Ocean (late Eocene) is implicated in the separation of the Anguinae from its North American sister taxon, the Gerrhonotinae. Subsequent dispersal of anguine lizards to East Asia and North America appears to have followed the Oligocene drying of the Turgai Sea. The alternative hypothesis, that anguine lizards originated in North America and dispersed to Asia via the Bering land bridge with subsequent colonization of Europe and Morocco, requires a phylogenetic tree seven steps longer than the most parsimonious hypothesis. North African, European, and West Asian anguines were isolated from others by the rapid uplift of Tibet in the late Oligocene to Miocene. Phylogenetic analysis of evolutionary changes in the gene encoding tRNACys suggests gradual reduction of dihydrouridine (D) stems by successive deletion of bases in some lineages. This evolutionary pattern contrasts with the one observed for parallel elimination of the D-stem in mitochondrial tRNAs of eight other reptile groups, in which replication slippage produces direct repeats. An unusual, enlarged TψC (T) stem is inferred for tRNACys in most species.

An Annotated Type Catalogue of the Anguimorph Lizards (Squamata: Anguidae, Helodermatidae, Varanidae, Xenosauridae) in the Zoological Museum, Berlin

AbstractA complete catalogue is provided for the type specimens of anguimorph lizards in the herpetological collection of the Zoological Museum, Museum of Natural History, Berlin, as of August 1992. Excluding questionable cases, the collection contains 32 type specimens representing 25 currently recognized taxa in the families Anguidae, Helodermatidae, Varanidae, and Xenosauridae. All but seven of these taxa are presently regarded as valid at the specific or subspecific level.

Osteoderms in the Anguid Lizard Subfamily Diploglossinae and Their Taxonomic Importance

Osteoderms in the Anguid Lizard Subfamily Diploglossinae and Their Taxonomic Importance

Lizard Energetics and Diet

In the families Agamidae, Gerrhosauridae, Iguanidae, and Scincidae, species that weigh more than 300 g are almost all herbivores, whereas those weighing less than 50—100 g are carnivores. Juveniles of large herbivorous species tend to be carnivorous until they reach body weights of 50—300 g. Diet is compared to metabolic expenditure in these lizards. Although smaller animals have higher weight—specific metabolic rates, the greater total metabolicrate of larger animals requires a greater caloric intake. Juvenile animals and species of small body size are primarily insectivorous. It is postulated that larger animals of these families are unable to get caloric demands on a diet of insects, have no practical alternative animal prey, and rely instead on vegetation. The families Anguidae, Chamaeleontidae, Helodermatidae, Teiidae, and Varanidae do not include herbivorous species, although each family has species that weigh more than 300 g. Morphological, ecological, and physiological specializations in these families account for the absence of herbivorous species. For an unspecialized lizard, evolution of large body size both requires and permits an herbivorous diet.