Xenosaurus

{{Short description|Genus of lizards}}

{{Italic title}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| name = Xenosaurus

| image = Xenosaurus platyceps WLF-368-4X, Municipio Victoria; 12 July 2004.jpg

| image_caption = Xenosaurus platyceps

| taxon = Xenosaurus

| authority = W. Peters, 1861"Xenosaurus ". ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.

}}

Xenosaurus is a genus of lizards; it is the only extant genus in the family Xenosauridae, with 14 species currently recognized."Xenosauridae" and "Xenosaurus ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org. Also known as knob-scaled lizards, they can found in southwestern Tamaulipas and eastern Guerrero in Mexico.

{{Cite journal|vauthors=Nieto-Montes de Oca A, Barley AJ, Meza-Lázaro RN, García-Vázquez UO, Zamora-Abrego JG, Thomson RC, Leaché AD|date=January 2017|title=Phylogenomics and species delimitation in the knob-scaled lizards of the genus Xenosaurus (Squamata: Xenosauridae) using ddRADseq data reveal a substantial underestimation of diversity|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=106|pages=241–253|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2016.09.001|pmid=27720785}}

These lizards are known to feed on a variety of crawling and flying insects. This genus mostly eats orthopterans, coleopterans (beetles), dipterans, and myriapods.{{Cite journal|vauthors=Lemos-Espinal JA, Smith GR, Ballinger RE|date=2003|title=Diets of Three Species of Knob-Scaled Lizards (Genus Xenosaurus) from México|jstor=3672749|journal=The Southwestern Naturalist|volume=48|issue=1|pages=119–122|doi=10.1894/0038-4909(2003)048<0119:DOTSOK>2.0.CO;2}}

Species

The following 14 species are recognized as being valid.{{cite web|title=Xenosaurus|website=Dahms Tierleben|language=de|url=https://www.dahmstierleben.de/systematik/Reptilien/Squamata/anguimorpha/xenosauridae|access-date=2020-05-09}}

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

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • 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).