Tympanocryptis
| Tympanocryptis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Tympanocryptis tetraporophora | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Iguania |
| Family: | Agamidae |
| Subfamily: | Amphibolurinae |
| Genus: | Tympanocryptis W. Peters, 1863 |
Tympanocryptis is a genus of Australian lizards in the family Agamidae.
Description
The genus Tympanocryptis has the following characters. The tympanum is hidden. The body is depressed, and it is covered dorsally with heterogeneous scales. There is no dorsal crest. There is no gular sac, but a strong transverse gular fold is present. The tail is round in cross section. There is a preanal pore on each side, which sometimes is absent in females. In most species there are no femoral pores,[1] Tympanocryptis tetraporophora being an exception.
Species
The following 15 species are recognized as being valid.[2]
- Tympanocryptis centralis Sternfeld, 1925
- Tympanocryptis cephalus Günther, 1867 – blotch-tailed earless dragon
- Tympanocryptis condaminensis Melville et al., 2014 – Darling Downs earless dragon, eastern Condamine River floodplain (previously part of T. pinguicolla)[3]
- Tympanocryptis diabolicus Doughty et al., 2015
- Tympanocryptis fortescuensis Doughty et al., 2015
- Tympanocryptis gigas F. Mitchell, 1948
- Tympanocryptis houstoni Storr, 1982
- Tympanocryptis intima F. Mitchell, 1948 – gibber earless dragon
- Tympanocryptis lineata W. Peters, 1863 – lined earless dragon
- Tympanocryptis pentalineata Melville et al., 2014
- Tympanocryptis pinguicolla F. Mitchell, 1948 – grassland earless dragon
- Tympanocryptis pseudopsephos Doughty et al., 2015
- Tympanocryptis tetraporophora Lucas & C. Frost, 1895 – long-tailed earless dragon
- Tympanocryptis uniformis F. Mitchell, 1948 – even-scaled earless dragon
- Tympanocryptis wilsoni Melville et al., 2014 – Darling Downs earless dragon, western Condamine River floodplain (previously part of T. pinguicolla)[3]
Conservation efforts for T. pinguicolla
In early January 2014, media reported[4] that researchers Professor Stephen Sarre and Dr Lisa Doucette from the University of Canberra's Institute for Applied Ecology had succeeded in breeding T. pinguicolla in captivity, and had also hatched eggs gathered from field studies, with around 60 hatchlings being born. In June 2011, Professor Sarre's team won a four-year funding grant from the Australian Research Council to research and potentially save the species from extinction, and find a cause for the species recent collapse in numbers, thought to be associated with 10 years of drought in the species' range.[5]
References
- ↑ Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume I. ... Agamidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 436 pp. + Plates I-XXXII. (Genus Tympanocryptis, p. 392).
- ↑ Tympanocryptis. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- 1 2 "Dragons discovered on the Darling Downs". ABC local radio/online. (11 August 2014). accessed same date.
- ↑ Canberra breeding program bolsters tiny endangered dragons, Kathleen Dyett, ABC News Online, 3 January 2014, accessed 6 January 2014
- ↑ New funding gives hope to endangered species, Claudia Doman, University of Canberra, 9 June 2011, accessed 6 January 2014
External links
- Tympanocryptis. Zipcode Zoo.
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Wikispecies has information related to Tympanocryptis |
Further reading
- Peters W (1863). "Eine Übersicht der von Hrn. Richard Schomburgk an das zoologische Museum eingesandten Amphibien, aus Buchsfelde bei Adelaide in Südaustralien ". Monatsberichte der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1863: 228-236. (Tympanocryptis, new genus, p. 230). (in German).