| Meroles | |
|---|---|
) | |
| Meroles knoxii in South Africa | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Lacertidae |
| Subfamily: | Lacertinae |
| Genus: | Meroles Gray, 1838 |
| Species | |
| Eight species, see text. | |
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.
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 (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).
External links
- Meroles in the Reptile Database.