Meroles
Meroles is a genus of lizards, commonly known as desert lizards, in the family Lacertidae. The genus contains eight species, inhabiting southwestern Africa, especially the Namib Desert.
| Meroles | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Meroles knoxii in South Africa | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Lacertidae |
| Subfamily: | Lacertinae |
| Genus: | Meroles Gray, 1838 |
| Species | |
|
Eight species, see text. | |
Description
Desert lizards have fine, granular dorsal scales. The hind toes are elongated and possess fringes of scales.[1]
Species
The following eight species are recognized as being valid.[2]
- Meroles anchietae (Bocage, 1867) - shovel-snouted lizard, Anchieta's dune lizard
- Meroles ctenodactylus (A. Smith, 1838) - giant desert lizard, Smith's sand lizard, Smith's desert lizard
- Meroles cuneirostris (Strauch, 1867) -wedge-snouted sand lizard, wedge-snouted desert lizard
- Meroles knoxii (Milne-Edwards, 1829) - Knox's ocellated sand lizard, Knox's desert lizard
- Meroles micropholidotus Mertens, 1938 - small-scaled desert lizard
- Meroles reticulatus (Bocage, 1867) - reticulate sand lizard
- Meroles squamulosus (W. Peters, 1869) - common rough-scaled lizard, savanna lizard
- Meroles suborbitalis (W. Peters, 1854) - spotted sand lizard
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Meroles.
References
- Branch, Bill [in French] (1998). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa (3rd ed.). Cape Town: Struik. pp. 164–167. ISBN 1868720403.
- "Meroles ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
Further reading
- Gray JE (1838). "Catalogue of the Slender-tongued Saurians, with Descriptions of many new Genera and Species". Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., [First Series] 1: 274–283, 388–394. (Meroles, new genus, p. 282).
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