Weapontail

Weapontail
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Hoplocercidae
Genus: Hoplocercus
Species: H. spinosus
Binomial name
Hoplocercus spinosus
(Fitzinger, 1843)[1]

The Weapontail or Brazilian spiny-tailed lizard (Hoplocercus spinosus) is a lizard belonging to the monotypic genus Hoplocercus.[1] It is found in the Cerrado and adjacent Cerrado–Amazon mosaics in Brazil and Bolivia.[1] It is a quite distantly related of the other members of Hoplocercidae, as it is believed to have diverged from these about 35 million years ago.[1]

As suggested by its name, it has a short, highly spiny tail (it is superficially similar to Uromastyx and the smaller species in Ctenosaura); when disturbed, it retreats to its burrow with the tail orientated towards the entrance.[1] It is nocturnal, and feeds on arthropods.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Torres-Carvajal, Etheridge & de Queiroz (2011). A systematic revision of Neotropical lizards in the clade Hoplocercinae (Squamata: Iguania). Zootaxa 2752: 1–44

Further reading

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