Desert plated lizard
| Gerrhosaurus skoogi | |
|---|---|
| File:Desert Plated Lizard imported from iNaturalist photo 45483586 on 2 October 2021.jpg | |
| Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Gerrhosauridae |
| Genus: | Gerrhosaurus |
| Species: | G. skoogi
|
| Binomial name | |
| Gerrhosaurus skoogi Andersson, 1916
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The desert plated lizard (Gerrhosaurus skoogi) is a reptile species endemic to the northern Namib Desert in Namibia and Angola.[2] Also known as the sand plated lizard,[3] it is diurnal.[4]
Etymology
[edit | edit source]The specific name, skoogi, is in honor of Hilmer Nils Erik Skoog (1870–1927), who was Curator of the Götesborgs Naturhistoriska museum from 1904 to 1927.[5]
Taxonomy
[edit | edit source]In 1916 Andersson described this lizard as a new species, naming it Gerrhosaurus skoogi. In 1953 FitzSimons assigned the species to a new genus Angolosaurus. Recent studies[3] suggest that this monotypic genus is synonymous to Gerrhosaurus and makes it paraphyletic; therefore A. skoogi was reclassified as Gerrhosaurus skoogi.
Ecology
[edit | edit source]Gerrhosaurus skoogi mostly eats plants, but it also forages for beetles and other small arthropods that live within the sand dunes that the lizard inhabits.[6] G. skoogi is considered to be a sand-diving lizard and can move efficiently through sand dunes.[6]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b [1] Lamb T, Meeker AM, Bauer AM, Branch WR (2003). "On the systematic status of the desert plated lizard (Angolosaurus skoogi ): phylogenetic inference from DNA sequence analysis of the African Gerrhosauridae". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 78 (2): 253-261.
- ^ Nagy KA, Clarke BC, Seely MK, Mitchell D, Lighton JRB (1991). "Water and Energy Balance in Namibian Desert Sand-Dune Lizards Angolosaurus skoogi ". Functional Ecology 5 (6): 731-739.
- ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).. (Gerrhosaurus skoogi, p. 245).
- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
Further reading
[edit | edit source]- Andersson LG (1916). "Notes on the reptiles and batrachians in the Zoological museum at Gothenburg with an account of some new species". Göteborgs Kungliga Vetenskaps och Vitter-Hets Samhalles Handlingar, Series B, 4, 17 (5): 1-41. (Gerrhosaurus skoogi, new species).
- Branch, Bill (2004). Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second Impression. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 399 pp. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).. (Angolosaurus skoogi, p. 177 + Plate 64).
Lua error in Module:Taxonbar at line 165: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
.jpg){kind=link}