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.
SUBORDER SAURIA
The Suborder Sauria are commonly known as the lizards and include nine families split between two infraorders, the Iguania and Scleroglossa (the latter further split into the three Microorders). Lizard diversity in Paraguay is surprisingly low given the country´s latitude.
Saurians retain the upper temporal arcade and have a movable quadrate, either attached to the cranium or secondarily fixed. Teeth are acrodont or pleurodont. The epipterygoid is rudimentary and rod-like. Mandibular rami are usually united at the symphysis with sutures. Sternum and pectoral girdle are usually present and the limbs may be well-developed, reduced or secondarily lost. Pineal foramen may be present or absent. Retina lacks cones, only rods being present.
REFERENCES
Fouquette MJ (unpublished) - Synopsis of Recent Reptiles to Genus - Arizona University
Whitfield P Ed.1984 - Longman Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia - Guild Publishing, London.
