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Lizard is the common name used for all squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, [1] ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains.
Squamata (/ s k w æ ˈ m eɪ t ə /, Latin squamatus, 'scaly, having scales') is the largest order of reptiles, comprising lizards and snakes.With over 12,162 species, [3] it is also the second-largest order of extant (living) vertebrates, after the perciform fish.
Lepidosauromorpha (in PhyloCode known as Pan-Lepidosauria [2] [3]) is a group of reptiles comprising all diapsids closer to lizards than to archosaurs (which include crocodiles and birds). The only living sub-group is the Lepidosauria , which contains two subdivisions, Squamata , which contains lizards and snakes , and Rhynchocephalia , the ...
However, it is represented by only one living species: the tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), a superficially lizard-like reptile native to New Zealand. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] Lepidosauria is a monophyletic group (i.e. a clade ), containing all descendants of the last common ancestor of squamates and rhynchocephalians. [ 7 ]
Reptiles, from Nouveau Larousse Illustré, 1897–1904, notice the inclusion of amphibians (below the crocodiles). In the 13th century, the category of reptile was recognized in Europe as consisting of a miscellany of egg-laying creatures, including "snakes, various fantastic monsters, lizards, assorted amphibians, and worms", as recorded by Beauvais in his Mirror of Nature. [7]
Obligate herbivory, on the other hand, has only evolved 10 times in living, non-liolaemid lizards (nearly 7,700 species). Though, one clade seems to be an exception to this pattern of infrequently developed herbivory. A 2004 study investigated a unique group of South American lizards called the Liolaemidae. The authors of this study found that ...
Archosauromorpha (Greek for "ruling lizard forms") is a clade of diapsid reptiles containing all reptiles more closely related to archosaurs (such as crocodilians and dinosaurs, including birds) than to lepidosaurs (such as tuataras, lizards, and snakes). [1]
This is a checklist of American reptiles found in Northern America, based primarily on publications by the Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR). [1] [2] [3] It includes all species of Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and the United States including recently introduced species such as chameleons, the Nile monitor, and the Burmese python.