Urosaurus

Urosaurus
	Urosaurus ornatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Iguania
Family:	Phrynosomatidae
Genus:	Urosaurus; Hallowell, 1854
Diversity
	Nine species, see text.

Urosaurus is a genus of lizards, commonly known as tree lizards or brush lizards, belonging to the New World family Phrynosomatidae.^[1]

Description[]

Species in the genus Urosaurus can be distinguished from members of the genus Sceloporus by the presence of a gular (under neck) fold and granular lateral scales. They can be distinguished from members of the genus Uta by the presence of enlarged (sometimes only slightly) dorsal scales.^{[citation needed]}

Reproduction[]

Urosaurus have been used as a model system in lizard life-history studies, and populations produce two or more clutches of eggs per year.^[2]^[3] Field studies have also shown a cost of reproduction in a natural New Mexico population of the species Urosaurus ornatus.^[4]

Species[]

In the genus Urosaurus there are nine species which are recognized as being valid.^[5]

(Cope, 1871)
(A.M.C. Duméril, 1856)
(Townsend, 1890)
(Schmidt, 1921)
Urosaurus graciosus Hallowell, 1854
(Fischer, 1881)
& , 1977
Urosaurus nigricauda (Cope, 1864)
Urosaurus ornatus (Baird & Girard, 1852)

Etymology[]

The specific name, gadovi, is in honor of German ornithologist Hans Friedrich Gadow.^[6]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Urosaurus Hallowell, 1854". Integrated Taxonomic Information System.
^ Michel L (1976). "Reproduction in a southwest New Mexican population of Urosaurus ornatus". The Southwestern Naturalist. 21 (3): 281–299. doi:10.2307/3669714. JSTOR 3669714.
^ Ballinger RE (1984). "Survivorship of the lizard, Urosaurus ornatus linearis, in New Mexico". Journal of Herpetology. 18 (4): 480–481. doi:10.2307/1564108. JSTOR 1564108.
^ Landwer AJ (1994). "Manipulation of egg production reveals costs of reproduction in the tree lizard (Urosaurus ornatus)". Oecologia. 100 (3): 243–249. Bibcode:1994Oecol.100..243L. doi:10.1007/BF00316951. PMID 28307007. S2CID 3226827.
^ Urosaurus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 28 January 2015.
^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Urosaurus gadovi, p. 96).