Xenosaurus is a genus of lizards; it is the only extant genus in the family Xenosauridae, with 14 species currently recognized.[2] Also known as knob-scaled lizards, they can found in southwestern Tamaulipas and eastern Guerrero in Mexico.[3] These lizards are known to feed on a variety of crawling and flying insects. This genus mostly eats orthopterans, coleopterans (beetles), dipterans, and myriapods.[4]

Xenosaurus
Xenosaurus platyceps
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Xenosauridae
Genus: Xenosaurus
W. Peters, 1861[1]

Species

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The following 14 species are recognized as being valid.[2][5]

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Xenosaurus.

References

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  1. ^ "Xenosaurus ". ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.
  2. ^ a b "Xenosauridae" and "Xenosaurus ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  3. ^ Nieto-Montes de Oca A, Barley AJ, Meza-Lázaro RN, García-Vázquez UO, Zamora-Abrego JG, Thomson RC, Leaché AD (January 2017). "Phylogenomics and species delimitation in the knob-scaled lizards of the genus Xenosaurus (Squamata: Xenosauridae) using ddRADseq data reveal a substantial underestimation of diversity". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 106: 241–253. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.09.001. PMID 27720785.
  4. ^ Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR, Ballinger RE (2003). "Diets of Three Species of Knob-Scaled Lizards (Genus Xenosaurus) from México". The Southwestern Naturalist. 48 (1): 119–122. doi:10.1894/0038-4909(2003)048<0119:DOTSOK>2.0.CO;2. JSTOR 3672749.
  5. ^ "Xenosaurus". Dahms Tierleben (in German). Retrieved 2020-05-09.
  6. ^ Nieto-Montes De Oca, Adrián; Sánchez-Vega, Helder; Durán-Fuentes, Itzel (2018). "A new species of knob-scaled lizard (Xenosauridae, Xenosaurus) from the Sierra Madre Oriental of Puebla, Mexico". ZooKeys (737): 141–160. Bibcode:2018ZooK..737..141N. doi:10.3897/zookeys.737.15095. PMC 5904495. PMID 29674877. Retrieved 3 April 2018.

Further reading

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  • Peters W (1861). "Eine neue Gattung von Eidechsen, Xenosaurus fasciatus, aus Mexico [= A new genus of lizards, Xenosaurus fasciatus, from Mexico]". Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie zu Berlin 1861: 453–454. (Xenosaurus, new genus). (in German).
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