Designed by Paul Smith 2006. This website is copyrighted by law.
Material contained herewith may not be used without the prior written permission of FAUNA Paraguay.
Photographs on this web-site were taken by Paul Smith, Hemme Batjes, Regis Nossent,
Alberto Esquivel, Arne Lesterhuis, José Luis Cartes, Rebecca Zarza and Hugo del Castillo and are used with their permission.
SUPERFAMILY LACERTOIDEA
This Superfamily is represented by two families in Paraguay, the Gymnophthalmidae and the Teidae. The Lacertoidea are ground-dwelling lizards characterised by the presence of a pre-articular crest. The parietals extend forward into fossae on the ventral surface of the frontals.
FAMILY GYMNOPHTHALMIDAE - SPECTACLED LIZARDS
There are seven Paraguayan species in this exclusively Neotropical family, classified into five genera Bachia, Cercosaura, Colobosaura, Micrablepharus and Vanzosaura. They are skink-like lizards, known commonly as "Spectacled Lizards" or "Microteiids". The lower eyelid is transparent, so they can still see even with the eyes closed. Members of this family have the frontals fused forming a single bone which extends over the dorsal surface of the parietals. There is no parietal foramen. Anterior nasal scales are separated by 1 or 3 frontonasal scales. The xiphisternum is fused to the sternum. Other features are as for the Teidae, of which they were previously considered a subfamily.
FAMILY TEIIDAE - TEIIDS
There are nine Paraguayan species in this exclusively Neotropical family, classified into six genera Ameiva, Cnemidophorus, Dracaena, Kentropyx, Teius and Tupinambis. Fast-moving, ground-dwelling lizards, they include some of the largest and most familiar of Paraguayan species. Teiids have a single fused frontal bone. The jugals and squamosal contact each other, or in some cases almost meet. The upper arch is complete or nearly so. Ectopterygoid excludes the maxilla from the margin of the suborbital opening. Vomers are elongate and splenial is much reduced. There are no osteoderms and the dorsal scales are small and granular.
REFERENCES
Fouquette MJ (unpublished) - Synopsis of Recent Reptiles to Genus - Arizona University
Whitfield P Ed.1984 - Longman Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia - Guild Publishing, London.
