Tropidurus

Tropidurus
Tropidurus oreadicus on a wall in Belém, Brazil
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Iguania
Family:	Tropiduridae
Genus:	Tropidurus Wied-Neuwied, 1824[1]
Species
32+, see text
Synonyms
Platynotus Strobilurus Tapinurus and see text

The reptile genus Tropidurus includes several species of Neotropical ground lizards (family Tropiduridae). It is the type genus of this family of iguanian lizards.

Geographic range and habitat

They are found on the South American mainland, especially in the Amazon Rainforest but also in more arid regions.

Common name

There is no widely used common name solely for this genus; in their native range they are simply called "iguanas" as are most similar animals. If anything, the Brazilian term calango is used to particularly refer to lizards of the genus Tropidurus.

Taxonomy

There are at least 28 described species, but new ones continue to be discovered occasionally. An additional seven species—the Galápagos lava lizards endemic to the Galápagos Islands—are sometimes placed here too, but more commonly separated in the genus Microlophus instead. Similarly, the Green Thornytail Iguana and Tropical Thornytail Iguana are now often separated in the minor but probably distinct Uracentron lineage instead. Here, these two genera are kept separate, while Platynotus, Strobilurus, and Tapinurus are included in Tropidurus.

Description

Males and females of all Tropidurus species are marked differently. The male is usually much larger than the female, and its body is more brightly coloured and distinctly patterned. The average size of lizards varies greatly from habitat to habitat as does the pattern of body markings. Markings vary considerably, even among individuals of the same species. Like many lizards, they show changes of colour with mood and temperature.

Species

Listed alphabetically.^[2]

Tropidurus arenarius (Tschudi, 1845) Tropidurus bogerti Roze, 1958 Tropidurus callathelys Harvey & Gutberlet, 1998 Tropidurus catalanensis Gudynas & Skuk, 1983 Tropidurus chromatops Harvey & Gutberlet, 1998 Tropidurus cocorobensis Rodrigues, 1987 Tropidurus divaricatus Rodrigues, 1987 Tropidurus durkaczii Durkacz, 2013 Tropidurus erythrocephalus Rodrigues, 1987 Tropidurus etheridgei Cei, 1982 Tropidurus guarani Alvarez, Cei & Scolaro, 1994 Tropidurus helenae (Manzani & Abe, 1990) Tropidurus hispidus (Spix, 1825) Tropidurus hygomi Reinhardt & Lütken, 1861 Tropidurus insulanus Rodrigues, 1987 Tropidurus itambere Rodrigues, 1987 Tropidurus jaguaribanus Passos, Lima & Borges-Nojosa, 2011[3]

Tropidurus lagunablanca Carvalho, 2016[4] Tropidurus melanopleurus Boulenger, 1902 Tropidurus montanus Rodrigues, 1987 Tropidurus mucujensis Rodrigues, 1987 Tropidurus nanuzae Rodrigues, 1981 Tropidurus oreadicus Rodrigues, 1987 Tropidurus panstictus Myers & Donnelly, 2001 Tropidurus pinima (Rodrigues, 1984) Tropidurus psammonastes Rodrigues, Kasahara & Yonenaga-Yasuda, 1988 Tropidurus tarara Carvalho, 2016[4] Tropidurus teyumirim Carvalho, 2016[4] Tropidurus semitaeniatus (Spix, 1825) Tropidurus sertanejo Carvalho, et al., 2016[5] Tropidurus spinulosus (Cope, 1862) Tropidurus torquatus (Wied-Neuwied), 1820 Tropidurus xanthochilus Harvey & Gutberlet, 1998

References

1. Tropidurus. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
2. Tropidurus, Reptile Database
3. Passos, D.C., Lima, D.C. & Borges-Nojosa, D.M. (2011). "A new species of Tropidurus (Squamata, Tropiduridae) of the semiaeniatus group from a semiarid area in Northeastern Brazil." Zootaxa 2930: 60-68.
4. Carvalho, A. (2016). Three new species of the Tropidurus spinulosus group (Squamata: Tropiduridae) from Eastern Paraguay. American Museum Novitates 3853 1-44.
5. Carvalho, A., et al. (2016). A new Tropidurus (Tropiduridae) from the semiarid Brazilian Caatinga: evidence for conflicting signal between mitochondrial and nuclear loci affecting the phylogenetic reconstruction of South American collared lizards. American Museum Novitates 3852 1-66.