Hydrosaurus

Hydrosaurus, commonly known as the sailfin dragons or sailfin lizards, is a genus in the family Agamidae.[2] These relatively large lizards are named after the sail-like structure on their tails. They are native to Indonesia (4 species) and the Philippines (1 species) where they are generally found near water, such as rivers and mangrove.[3] Sailfin lizards are semiaquatic and able to run short distances across water using both their feet and tail for support, similar to the basilisks.[4] They are threatened by both habitat loss and overcollection for the wild animal trade.[3]

This article is about a lizard genus. For the mosasaur genus which previously held the same name, see Pontosaurus.

Hydrosaurus
Hydrosaurus amboinensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Agamidae
Subfamily: Hydrosaurinae
Kaup, 1828
Genus: Hydrosaurus
Kaup, 1828[1]
Type species
Hydrosaurus amboinensis
Species
Synonyms
  • Lophura Gray, 1827
  • Istiurus Cuvier, 1829

In the 19th century, the genus was called Lophura, however in 1903 Poche pointed out that the name was pre-occupied by a genus of pheasants.[5] Since Günther in 1873, the Sulawesi populations were considered to belong to H. amboinensis; Denzer et al. in 2020 resurrected H. celebensis and H. microlophus, increasing the number of species from three to five.[5]

They are the only members of the subfamily Hydrosaurinae.

Species

There are currently five valid species according to the Reptile Database,[2][3][5]

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
Hydrosaurus amboinensis (Schlosser, 1768)Moluccan sailfin lizard or Amboina sail-finned lizardWestern New Guinea, Ambon/Amboina Island and Ceram Island (Indonesia)
Hydrosaurus celebensis (Peters, 1872)Sulawesi black sailfin lizardIndonesia (Sulawesi)
Hydrosaurus microlophus (Bleeker, 1860)Indonesian giant sailfin dragon,

Makassar sailfin lizard, or Sulawesi giant sailfin dragon

 Indonesia (Sulawesi)
Hydrosaurus pustulatus (Eschsholtz, 1829)Philippine sailfin lizard, crested lizard, sail-fin lizard, sailfin water lizard, or soa-soa water lizard[6]Philippine archipelago (from Mindanao in south to Luzon in north)
Hydrosaurus weberi Barbour, 1911Weber's sailfin lizardTernate Island, North Maluku (Indonesia)

Halmahera Island, North Maluku (Indonesia)

References
  1. Hydrosaurus, ITIS report
  2. Hydrosaurus, The Reptile Database
  3. Cameron D. Siler, Andrés Lira-Noriega, Rafe M. Brown (2014). Conservation genetics of Australasian sailfin lizards: Flagship species threatened by coastal development and insufficient protected area coverage. Biological Conservation 169: 100–108. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2013.10.014
  4. Jackman Bauer (2008). Global diversity of lizards in freshwater (Reptilia: Lacertilia). Hydrobiologia 595(1): 581–586.
  5. Denzer, W.; P.D. Campbell; U. Manthey; A. Glässer-Trobisch; A. Koch (2020). "Dragons in Neglect: Taxonomic Revision of the Sulawesi Sailfin Lizards of the Genus Hydrosaurus Kaup, 1828 (Squamata, Agamidae)". Zootaxa. 4747 (2): 275–301. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4747.2.3. PMID 32230109. S2CID 214748049.
  6. Hydrosaurus pustulatus, IUCN


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