Meroles

Meroles
Meroles knoxii in South Africa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Lacertidae
Subfamily:	Lacertinae
Genus:	Meroles Gray, 1838
Species
Eight species, see text.

Meroles is a genus of lizards, commonly known as desert lizards, in the family Lacertidae. The genus contains eight species, inhabiting southwestern Africa, especially the Namib Desert.

Description[]

Desert lizards have fine, granular dorsal scales. The hind toes are elongated and possess fringes of scales.^[1]

Species[]

The following eight species are recognized as being valid.^[2]

• Meroles anchietae (Bocage, 1867) - shovel-snouted lizard, Anchieta's dune lizard
• Meroles ctenodactylus (A. Smith, 1838) - giant desert lizard, Smith's sand lizard, Smith's desert lizard
• Meroles cuneirostris (Strauch, 1867) -wedge-snouted sand lizard, wedge-snouted desert lizard
• Meroles knoxii (Milne-Edwards, 1829) - Knox's ocellated sand lizard, Knox's desert lizard
• Meroles micropholidotus Mertens, 1938 - small-scaled desert lizard
• Meroles reticulatus (Bocage, 1867) - reticulate sand lizard
• Meroles squamulosus (W. Peters, 1869) - common rough-scaled lizard, savanna lizard
• Meroles suborbitalis (W. Peters, 1854) - spotted sand lizard

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Meroles.

References[]

Further reading[]

• Gray JE (1838). "Catalogue of the Slender-tongued Saurians, with Descriptions of many new Genera and Species". Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., [First Series] 1: 274–283, 388–394. (Meroles, new genus, p. 282).

External links[]

• Meroles in the Reptile Database.

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