Squamata

Information about Squamata

Scaled reptiles

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Order:	Squamata Oppel, 1811

black: range of Squamata

Suborders

see text

This article is about the Squamata order of reptiles. For the Roman scale armour see: Lorica squamata.

Squamata (scaled reptiles) is the largest recent order of reptiles, including lizards and snakes. Members of the order are distinguished by their skins, which bear horny scales or shields. They also possess movable quadrate bones, making it possible to move the upper jaw relative to the braincase. This is particularly visible in snakes, which are able to open their mouths very widely to accommodate comparatively large prey. The male members of the group Squamata are the only vertebrates with a hemipenis. This is also the only reptile group in which can be found both viviparous and ovoviviparous species, as well as the usual oviparous reptiles.

Classically, the order is divided into three suborders:

Lacertilia, the lizards;
Serpentes, the snakes;
Amphisbaenia, the worm lizards.

Of these, the lizards form a paraphyletic group. In newer classifications the name Sauria is used for reptiles and birds in general, and the Squamata are divided differently:

Suborder Iguania (the iguanas and chameleons)
Suborder Scleroglossa
Infraorder Gekkota (the geckos)
Infraorder Anguimorpha (the monitors, goannas, Komodo dragon, Gila monster, and slow-worms)
Infraorder Scincomorpha (skinks, whiptail lizards and common European lizards)
Infraorder Serpentes (the snakes)
Infraorder Amphisbaenia

The exact relationships within these two suborders are not entirely certain yet, though recent research strongly suggests that several families form a venom clade which encompasses a majority (nearly 60%) of Squamate species.

The Squamata do not include the tuataras, New Zealand reptiles resembling lizards.

External links

Squamata

B. irregularis

Binomial name
Boiga irregularis
(Merrem, 1802)

The Brown tree snake (Boiga irregularis
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A. carolinensis

Binomial name
Anolis carolinensis
Linnaeus, 1758

Subspecies

Anolis carolinensis carolinensis
Anolis carolinensis seminolus
The Carolina anole (
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Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. Scientific classification also can be called scientific taxonomy, but should be distinguished from folk taxonomy, which lacks scientific basis.
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Chordata
Bateson, 1885

Typical Classes

See below

Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates.
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Sauropsida*
Goodrich, 1916

Subclasses

Anapsida
Diapsida

Synonyms

Reptilia Laurenti, 1768

Reptiles are tetrapods and amniotes, animals whose embryos are surrounded by an amniotic membrane, and members of the class
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Nicolaus Michael Oppel (December 7, 1782–February 16, 1820) was a German naturalist. He was a student of, and worked as an assistant to, André Marie Constant Duméril at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle in Paris, France, cataloging and classifying species of reptile.
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Lorica squamata is a type of scale armour used by ancient Roman military during the Roman Republic and at later periods. It was made from small metal scales sewn to a fabric backing.
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Sauropsida*
Goodrich, 1916

Subclasses

Anapsida
Diapsida

Synonyms

Reptilia Laurenti, 1768

Reptiles are tetrapods and amniotes, animals whose embryos are surrounded by an amniotic membrane, and members of the class
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Lacertilia*
Günther, 1867

Families

Many, see text.

Lizards are reptiles of the order Squamata, normally possessing four legs, external ear openings and movable eyelids.
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Serpentes
Linnaeus, 1758

Infraorders and Families

Alethinophidia - Nopcsa, 1923
Acrochordidae- Bonaparte, 1831

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scale (Greek lepid, Latin squama) is a small rigid plate that grows out of an animal's skin to provide protection. In lepidopteran species, scales are plates on the surface of the insect wing, and provide coloration.
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The quadrate bone is part of the skull in most tetrapods, including amphibians, sauropsids ("reptiles"), birds and early synapsids. In these animals it connects to the quadratojugal and squamosal in the skull, and forms part of the jaw joint (the other part is the articular bone at
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skull is a bony structure found in many animals which serves as the general framework for the head. The skull supports the structures of the face and protects the head against injury.

The skull can be subdivided into two parts: the cranium and the mandible.
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hemipenis (plural hemipenes) is one of a pair of intromittent organs of male squamata (snakes, lizards and amphisbaenia). Hemipenes are usually held inverted, within the body, and are everted for reproduction via erectile tissue like that in the human penis.
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viviparous animal is an animal employing vivipary: the embryo develops inside the body of the mother, as opposed to outside in an egg (ovipary). The mother then gives live birth.
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Ovoviviparous animals develop within eggs that remain within the mother's body up until they hatch or are about to hatch. This strategy of birth is known as ovoviviparity. It is similar to vivipary in that the embryo develops within the mother's body.
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Oviparous animals are animals that lay eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of many fish, amphibians and reptiles, all birds, the monotremes, and most insects and arachnids.
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Serpentes
Linnaeus, 1758

Infraorders and Families

Alethinophidia - Nopcsa, 1923
Acrochordidae- Bonaparte, 1831

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Amphisbaenia
Gray, 1844

black: range of Amphisbaenia

The Amphisbaenia are a suborder of peculiar, usually legless squamates closely related to lizards and snakes, in spite of their resemblance to earthworms (many
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In phylogenetics, a group of organisms is said to be paraphyletic (Greek para = near and phyle = race) if the group contains its most recent common ancestor, but does not contain all the descendants of that ancestor.
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Sauria
Gauthier, 1984

Subgroups

Lepidosauromorpha
Archosauromorpha

Sauria is a clade of reptiles that includes all living diapsids, as well as their common ancestor and all its extinct descendants.
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Iguania

Families

Agamidae
Chamaeleonidae
Iguanidae
Polychrotidae

Iguania is the suborder of Squamata that contains the iguanas, anoles, agamids and chameleons.
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Iguanidae

Genera

Amblyrhynchus
Brachylophus
Conolophus
Ctenosaura
Cyclura
Dipsosaurus
Iguana
Sauromalus

Iguanidae
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Chamaeleonidae

Genera

Bradypodion
Calumma
Chamaeleo
Furcifer
Kinyongia
Nadzikambia
Brookesia
Rieppeleon
Rhampholeon
Chameleons (family
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Gekkota

Gekkota is an infraorder in the suborder Lacertilia (lizards), comprising all geckos.

Subfamilies

Diplodactylinae
Eublepharinae
Gekkoninae
Aeluroscalabotinae
Teratoscincinae'''

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Gekkonidae
Gray, 1825

Subfamilies

Aeluroscalabotinae
Eublepharinae
Gekkoninae
Teratoscincinae
Diplodactylinae

Geckos are small to average sized lizards belonging to the family Gekkonidae
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Varanidae

Genus: Varanus
Merrem, 1820

Species

Many, see text.
Monitor lizards are the family Varanidae
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Goanna is the name given to any of the various Australian monitor lizards of the genus Varanus, as well as to certain species from South-east Asia.

There are around 20 species of goanna, 15 of which are endemic to Australia.
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Squamata

Information about Squamata

External links

Subfamilies