Editing Anguidae

{{Short description|Family of lizards}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|Campanian|Recent}}
| image = Anguidae.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Anguis fragilis]]'' (slow worm)
| image2 = Gerrhonotus parvus 5880611.jpg
| image2_caption = ''[[Gerrhonotus parvus]]''
| taxon = Anguidae
| authority = [[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1825
| subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies
| subdivision = *[[Anguinae]]
*Gerrhonotinae
*†[[Glyptosaurinae]]
}}

'''Anguidae''' refers to a large and diverse family of lizards native to the [[Northern Hemisphere]]. It contains 9 [[Genus|genera]] and 89 extant species. Common characteristics of this group include a reduced supratemporal arch, striations on the medial faces of tooth crowns, [[osteoderm]]s, and a lateral fold in the skin of most taxa.<ref name=":0" />  The group is divided into two living subfamilies, the legless [[Anguinae]], which contains [[Anguis|slow worms]] and [[glass lizards]], among others, found across the Northern Hemisphere, and Gerrhonotinae, which contains the alligator lizards, native to North and Central America. The family [[Diploglossidae]] (which contains the galliwasps) was also formerly included.

== Morphology and reproduction ==

Anguids have hard [[osteoderm]]s beneath their scales giving them an armored appearance. Members of the subfamily [[Anguinae]] have [[legless lizard|reduced or absent limbs]], giving them a [[snake]]-like appearance, while members of Gerrohonotinae are fully limbed.<ref name="EoR">{{cite book |editor1=Cogger, H.G. |editor2=Zweifel, R.G. |author= Bauer, Aaron M.|year=1998|title=Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians|publisher= Academic Press|location=San Diego|pages= 152–155|isbn= 0-12-178560-2}}</ref> Body type varies among species, with sizes ranging from 10&nbsp;cm to 1.5 m. The group includes [[Oviparity|oviparous]] and [[Viviparity|viviparous]] species, both of which can be observed in a single genus at times.<ref name="EoR" /><ref name=":0" />

== Feeding and habitat ==

Anguids are known carnivorous or [[insectivore|insectivorous]] foragers, feeding primarily on insects, although larger species have been known to feed on small reptiles and amphibians. They inhabit a wide range of different habitats across the globe, from arid to tropical environments. Most known species are terrestrial or semifossorial, with the exception of one arboreal genus: ''[[Abronia (lizard)|Abronia]]''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Anguidae/|title=Anguidae|website=Animal Diversity Web|language=en|access-date=2017-05-02}}</ref>

== Evolution ==

[[Image:Helodermoides tuberculatus.JPG|thumb|left|''[[Helodermoides]] tuberculatus'' fossil]]
Anguids have a relatively good fossil record and are relatively common as fossils in the [[Late Cretaceous]] and [[Paleogene]] of western North America. The oldest known anguid, with the most complete fossil record of any lizard, is ''[[Odaxosaurus]]'', a member of the extinct anguid subfamily [[Glyptosaurinae]], from the late [[Campanian]] of Canada, about 75 million years ago. ''Odaxosaurus'' and other Late Cretaceous anguids already exhibit many features found in living anguids, including chisel-like teeth and armor plates in the skin, suggesting a long evolutionary history for the group. Anguids were particularly diverse during the Paleocene and Eocene in North America; some species, such as those belonging to Glyptosaurinae,<ref name=":0" /> grew to large size and evolved a highly specialized crushing dentition. The long fossil record for the Anguidae in North America suggests that the group probably evolved in North America during the Cretaceous before dispersing to Europe in the Paleogene.
[[File:Anguidae Phylogeny PDF.pdf|thumb|482x482px|
This figure shows a former phylogeny of the anguid subfamilies based on maximum-likelihood analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequence data.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Wiens|first1=J. J.|last2=Slingluff|first2=J. L.|date=2001-11-11|title=How lizards turn into snakes: a phylogenetic analysis of body-form evolution in anguid lizards|journal=Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution|volume=55|issue=11|pages=2303–2318|issn=0014-3820|pmid=11794789|doi=10.1111/j.0014-3820.2001.tb00744.x|s2cid=2235211|doi-access=}}</ref> [[Diploglossinae]] and [[American legless lizard|Anniellinae]] are now considered distinct families.
]]

==Classification==
'''Family ANGUIDAE'''
* '''Subfamily [[Anguinae]]'''
** Genus ''[[Anguis]]'' - slowworms (5 species)
** Genus ''[[Dopasia]]'' - Asian glass lizards (7 species)
** Genus ''[[Hyalosaurus]]'' - North African glass lizard (1 species)
** Genus ''[[Ophisaurus]]'' - American glass lizards (13 species)
** Genus ''[[Pseudopus]]'' - scheltopusik (1* species)
* '''Subfamily Gerrhonotinae''' - alligator lizards
** Genus ''[[Barisia]]'' - alligator lizards (7 species)
** Genus ''[[Gerrhonotus]]'' - alligator lizards (9 species)
** Genus ''[[Abronia (lizard)|Abronia]]'' - arboreal alligator lizards (39 species)
** Genus ''[[Elgaria]]'' - western alligator lizards (7 species)
*'''Subfamily''' †[[Glyptosaurinae]]
Genetic evidence indicates that Diploglossinae lies outside the clade containing Anguinae, Gerrhonotinae, and the family [[Anniellidae]], Therefore, it has been placed in own separate family [[Diploglossidae]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Burbrink|first1=Frank T|last2=Grazziotin|first2=Felipe G|last3=Pyron|first3=R Alexander|last4=Cundall|first4=David|last5=Donnellan|first5=Steve|last6=Irish|first6=Frances|last7=Keogh|first7=J Scott|last8=Kraus|first8=Fred|last9=Murphy|first9=Robert W|last10=Noonan|first10=Brice|last11=Raxworthy|first11=Christopher J|date=2020-05-01|editor-last=Thomson|editor-first=Robert|title=Interrogating Genomic-Scale Data for Squamata (Lizards, Snakes, and Amphisbaenians) Shows no Support for Key Traditional Morphological Relationships|url=https://academic.oup.com/sysbio/article/69/3/502/5573126|journal=Systematic Biology|language=en|volume=69|issue=3|pages=502–520|doi=10.1093/sysbio/syz062|pmid=31550008|issn=1063-5157|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

<nowiki>*</nowiki>extant individuals

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikispecies}}
{{Commons category|Anguidae}}
* [http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/advanced_search?taxon=Anguidae&submit=Search List of species in the family Anguidae] from the [[Reptile Database]]
* http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Anguidae/

{{Squamata families}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q191059}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Anguids]]
[[Category:Taxa named by John Edward Gray]]
[[Category:Lizard families]]
[[Category:Extant Campanian first appearances]]