Dibamidae
Encyclopedia
Dibamidae is a family
of legless lizard
s found in tropical forests. Relatively little is known about the dibamid lizards, which are native to Mexico
, SE Asia
, Indonesia
, the Philippine Islands and western New Guinea
.
They are small insectivorous
lizards, with long, slender bodies, adapted for burrowing into the soil. They have a rigidly fused skull, no pterygoid
teeth, and no external ears. Their eyes are greatly reduced, and covered by a scale. While female dibamids are entirely limbless, the males retain small, flap-like hind limbs, which they use to grip their partner during mating. They lay eggs with hard, calcified shells, rather than the leathery shells typical of many other reptile groups.
According to newer genetic research, Dibamidae was the first Squamata group to branch off from the order.
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of legless lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
s found in tropical forests. Relatively little is known about the dibamid lizards, which are native to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, SE Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, the Philippine Islands and western New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
.
They are small insectivorous
Insectivore
An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....
lizards, with long, slender bodies, adapted for burrowing into the soil. They have a rigidly fused skull, no pterygoid
Pterygoid
Pterygoid can refer to:* Pterygoid processes of the sphenoid bone** The Lateral pterygoid plate by it* a muscle such as Lateral pterygoid muscle or Medial pterygoid muscle* a branch of the Mandibular nerve...
teeth, and no external ears. Their eyes are greatly reduced, and covered by a scale. While female dibamids are entirely limbless, the males retain small, flap-like hind limbs, which they use to grip their partner during mating. They lay eggs with hard, calcified shells, rather than the leathery shells typical of many other reptile groups.
According to newer genetic research, Dibamidae was the first Squamata group to branch off from the order.
Biodiversity
- 2 genera
- 22 species
- for details, see here