Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Cladus: Unidentata Episquamata
Subordo: Lacertoidea
Infraordo: Lacertibaenia
Familia: Lacertidae
Subfamilia: Lacertinae Genus: Meroles Species: M. anchietae - M. ctenodactylus - M. cuneirostris - M. knoxii - M. micropholidotus - M. reticulatus - M. suborbitalis
Name
Meroles
Vernacular names
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.
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