Crotaphytidae

The Crotaphytidae, or collared lizards, are a family<ref name=Townsend2011>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=Wiens2012>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=Pyron2013>Template:Cite journal</ref> of desert-dwelling reptiles native to the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. Alternatively they are recognized as a subfamily, Crotaphytinae, within the clade Pleurodonta. They are very fast-moving animals, with long limbs and tails; some species are capable of achieving bipedal running at top speed. This species is carnivorous, feeding mainly on insects and smaller lizards. The two genera contain 12 species.

They may be related to the extinct Arretosauridae of Paleogene Asia due to similar jaw morphologies, though other studies classify the Arretosauridae in Acrodonta with other Old World iguanians.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Technical characters

• Femoral pores present
• Interparietal scale small (distinctly smaller than ear opening)
• Never have an enlarged middorsal scale row or fringe
• Never have a divided rostral scale
• No bony spines or projecting ridges on their heads
• No scales projecting over their ears, and no scales forming a prominent fringe on sides of toes as in Phrynosomatidae

Species

Image	Genus	Living species
	Gambelia Template:Small<ref name="DT">Dahms Tierleben. www.dahmstierleben.de/systematik/Reptilien/Squamata/Iguania/crotaphytidae.</ref><ref>Template:EMBL genus www.reptile-database.org.</ref> (leopard lizards)	Gambelia copeii – Cope's leopard lizard Template:Small Gambelia sila – Blunt-nosed leopard lizard Template:Small Gambelia wislizenii – Long-nosed leopard lizard Template:Small
	Crotaphytus Template:Small<ref name="DT"/><ref>Template:EMBL genus www.reptile-database.org.</ref> (collared lizards)	Crotaphytus antiquus – Venerable collared lizard Template:Small Crotaphytus bicinctores – Desert collared lizard Template:Small Crotaphytus collaris – Common collared lizard Template:Small Crotaphytus collaris auriceps – yellow-headed collared lizard Fitch & W. Tanner, 1951 Crotaphytus collaris baileyi – western collared lizard Stejneger, 1890 Crotaphytus collaris collaris – eastern collared lizard (Say, 1823) Crotaphytus collaris fuscus – Chihuahuan collared lizard W. Ingram & W. Tanner, 1971 Crotaphytus collaris melanomaculatus – black-spotted collared lizard Axtell & Webb, 1995 Crotaphylus dickersonae – Dickerson's collared lizard Template:Small Crotaphytus grismeri – Grismer's collared lizard Template:Small Crotaphylus insularis – Eastern collared lizard Template:Small Crotaphytus nebrius – Sonoran collared lizard Template:Small Crotaphytus reticulatus – Reticulated collared lizard Template:Small Crotaphytus vestigium – Baja collared lizard Template:Small

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in different genus.

Further reading

• Frost DR, Etheridge RE (1989). A Phylogenetic Analysis and Taxonomy of Iguanian Lizards (Reptilia: Squamata) Univ. Kansas Mus. Nat. Hist. Misc. Publ. 81: 1-62. (Family Crotaphytidae, p. 36).
• Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. Template:ISBN. (Subfamily Crotaphytinae, p. 106).