Meroles
{{Short description|Genus of lizards}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Meroles knoxii.jpg
| image_caption = Meroles knoxii in South Africa
| taxon = Meroles
| authority = Gray, 1838
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = Eight species,
see text.
}}
Meroles is a genus of lizards, commonly known as desert lizards, in the family Lacertidae. The genus contains eight species, inhabiting southwestern Africa, especially the Namib Desert.
Description
Desert lizards have fine, granular dorsal scales. The hind toes are elongated and possess fringes of scales.{{cite book|last=Branch, Bill|author-link=William Roy Branch|title=Field Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of Southern Africa|date=1998|publisher=Struik|location=Cape Town|isbn=1868720403|pages=164–167|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hs9EzcxkCE4C&q=Meroles+fringe+toe&pg=PA160|edition=3rd}}
Species
The following eight species are recognized as being valid.{{EMBL genus|genus=Meroles}} www.reptile-database.org.
- Meroles anchietae {{small|(Bocage, 1867)}} - shovel-snouted lizard, Anchieta's dune lizard
- Meroles ctenodactylus {{small|(A. Smith, 1838)}} - giant desert lizard, Smith's sand lizard, Smith's desert lizard
- Meroles cuneirostris {{small|(Strauch, 1867)}} -wedge-snouted sand lizard, wedge-snouted desert lizard
- Meroles knoxii {{small|(Milne-Edwards, 1829)}} - Knox's ocellated sand lizard, Knox's desert lizard
- Meroles micropholidotus {{small|Mertens, 1938}} - small-scaled desert lizard
- Meroles reticulatus {{small|(Bocage, 1867)}} - reticulate sand lizard
- Meroles squamulosus {{small|(W. Peters, 1869)}} - common rough-scaled lizard, savanna lizard
- Meroles suborbitalis {{small|(W. Peters, 1854)}} - spotted sand lizard
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Meroles.
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- Gray JE (1838). "Catalogue of the Slender-tongued Saurians, with Descriptions of many new Genera and Species". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, [First Series] 1: 274–283, 388–394. (Meroles, new genus, p. 282).
{{Taxonbar|from=Q592128}}
Category:Lacertid lizards of Africa
Category:Taxa named by John Edward Gray
{{Lacertidae-stub}}