#opluridae

[ognimdo2002]

Lemuria Island Creature 5: Julienosaurus donolafiny – Self-proclaimed Rogue of Lemuria Island

Name: Julienosaurus donolafiny (Julieno us honored to Julien Baker + Ancient Greek: σαῦρος "sauros", meaning "lizard"; Hindustani: दोनों "donon", for "both" + Malagasy: لَفِنِ "lafiny", for "side")

Creator: Ognimdo2002

Clade: Iguania (Opluridae)

Habitat: Non-mountain areas

Size: 1.24 meters tall; 2.013 meters long; 37.24 kilograms

Ecology: Omnivorous scavengers

Additional Info:

One of the iguanas named after Julien Baker is Julienosaurus donolafiny, although it is found in Madagascar rather than South America. Among the Opluridae family, this lizard was distinct because of its bigger evolution compared to contemporary cousins and its use of its tail for defense.

Julienosaurus had an extremely deadly, prehensile tail that moved to swat competing males or the predator. The lizard removed the carcasses and left the bones because it was a scavenger as well. Being an omnivore, Julienosaurus consumes anything it finds, including fallen fruits, leaves, mushrooms, insects, seafood, and carcasses.

Size Comparison and Geographic Location of this Species

Reference

[bestanimal]

Round 3 - Reptilia - Squamata

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Our second order of reptiles is Squamata, commonly called “lizards” and “snakes” (though snakes are in fact a suborder of lizards). This is a highly diverse order, containing the families… *deep breath*… Dibamidae (“blind skinks”), Diplodactylidae (diplodactylid geckos), Pygopodidae (“snake-lizards”), Carphodactylidae (“southern padless geckos”), Eublepharidae (“eyelid geckos”), Sphaerodactylidae (sphaerodactylid geckos), Phyllodactylidae (phyllodactylid geckos), Gekkonidae (“common geckos”), Scincidae (“skinks”), Xantusiidae (“night lizards”), Gerrhosauridae (“plated lizards”), Cordylidae (“girdled lizards”), Gymnophthalmidae (“spectacled lizards”), Teiidae (“whiptails” and “tegus”), Alopoglossidae (“teids” and “largescale lizards”), Lacertidae (“wall lizards”), Rhineuridae (“Florida Worm Lizard”), Bipedidae (“Mexican Mole Lizard”, “Four-toed Worm Lizard”, and “Three-toed Worm Lizard”), Blanidae (also “worm lizards”), Cadeidae (“Cuban keel-headed worm lizards”), Trogonophidae (“Palearctic worm lizards”), Amphisbaenidae (“worm lizards”), Shinisauridae (“Chinese Crocodile Lizard”), Lanthanotidae (“Earless Monitor Lizard”), Varanidae (“monitor lizards”), Helodermatidae (“beaded lizards”), Xenosauridae (“knob-scaled lizards”), Diploglossidae (“galliwasps”), Anniellidae (“American legless lizards”), Anguidae (“glass lizards” and “alligator lizards”), Chamaeleonidae (“chameleons”), Agamidae (“agamas” or “dragon lizards”), Leiocephalidae (“curlytail lizards”), Iguanidae (“iguanas” and “chuckwallas”), Hoplocercidae (“woodlizards” and “dwarf iguanas”), Crotaphytidae (“collared lizards”), Corytophanidae (“casquehead lizards”), Tropiduridae (“Neotropical ground lizards”), Phrynosomatidae (phrynosomatid lizards), Dactyloidae (“anoles”), Polychrotidae (“bush anoles”), Liolaemidae (liolaemid lizards), Leiosauridae (leiosaurid lizards), Opluridae (“Malagasy iguanas”), Leptotyphlopidae (“slender blind snakes”), Gerrhopilidae (“Indo-Malayan blindsnakes”), Xenotyphlopidae (“Malagasy blind snakes”), Typhlopidae (typhlopid blindsnakes), Anomalepididae (“primitive blind snakes”), Aniliidae (“American Pipe Snake”), Tropidophiidae (“dwarf boas”), Uropeltidae (“shield-tail snakes”), Anomochilidae (“dwarf pipesnakes”), Cylindrophiidae (“Asian pipesnakes”), Xenopeltidae (“sunbeam snakes”), Loxocemidae (“Mexican Python”), Pythonidae (pythons), Boidae (“boas”), Xenophidiidae (“spinejaw snakes”), Bolyeriidae (“Round Island boas”), Acrochordidae (“wart snakes”), Xenodermidae (“odd-scaled snakes”, “Borneo Red Snake”, “Dragon Snake”, and kin), Pareidae (“slug and snail-eating snakes”), Viperidae (vipers), Homalopsidae (“Indo-Australian water snakes”), Colubridae (colubrid snakes), Lamprophiidae (“house snakes”), and Elapidae (elapid snakes).

As this order is so diverse it would be hard to summarize their anatomy and behavior in one paragraph. Squamates have 4 legs ancestrally, but many groups have secondarily lost one pair or all of their legs. Some of these groups retain vestigial hind limbs beneath their skin. They can be herbivorous or carnivorous, lay eggs or give live birth, be terrestrial, fossorial, arboreal, semi-aquatic, or fully aquatic. Some utilize a flattened body or flaps of skin to glide. Some lack teeth, some have one or more teeth, and some have teeth designed for injecting venom. Venom, used in hunting and sometimes defense, evolved early in ambush predators of the clades Caenophidia, Anguimorpha, and Iguania, before the three groups split. It can be delivered via specialized fangs or saliva. Squamates “smell” via chemoreception, taking in scent particles on their tongue and transferring them to the Jacobson’s organ on the roof of their mouth, which then sends the information to the brain. Thus, when a squamate flicks its tongue in and out of its mouth, it is “taste-smelling” the air.

Squamata and Rhynchocephalia form the superorder Lepidosauria, which is the sister group to Archosauria, the clade that contains crocodilians and birds. As rhynchocephalians first appeared in the Early Triassic, the lineage leading to squamates must have also existed at the time. The oldest known squamate ancestor is Megachirella, which existed in the Middle Triassic. The oldest unambiguous fossils of squamates date to the Middle Jurassic, with the first appearance of many modern groups during this period.

Propaganda under the cut:

Many groups, such as the blind skinks and blind snakes, have greatly reduced eyes covered by a scale. These eyes can only sense light and dark. They have little need for eyes though, as they burrow underground and utilize their sense of smell and hearing to perceive the world.

Male squamates have hemipenes (two penises linked together), which are usually held inverted within their bodies, and are everted for reproduction via erectile tissue like a mammalian penis. Only one is used at a time, and some evidence indicates that males alternate use between copulations. Stay tuned for more Penis Facts™.

Snakes, the most recent suborder of lizards, are thought to have evolved from burrowing lizards during the Cretaceous Period. One of the most basal known snakes, Najash rionegrina, was a two-legged burrowing snake from the Late Cretaceous. However, snakes are not the only lizards to have lost their legs, and many other families seem to be following in their footsteps… or lack thereof.

The smallest squamate, and the smallest known reptile, is the Jaragua Sphaero (Sphaerodactylus ariasae), also known as the Jaragua Dwarf Gecko. The Jaragua Sphaero measures 14–18 mm (0.55–0.71 in) from the snout to the base of the tail and can fit on a US quarter. It has an average weight of 0.13 g.

Meanwhile, the longest squamate is the Reticulated Python (Malayopython reticulatus), which can grow up to 6.5 m (21.4 ft), and weigh up to 75 kg (165 lb). This upper range is rare, however. It is surpassed in weight by the Green Anaconda (Eunectes murinus) which can weigh up to 80 kg (176 lb), the Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis) which can weigh up to 150 kg (330 lb), and the Burmese Python (Python bivittatus) with a record weight of 182.8 kg (403 lb) in one captive individual.

The largest squamates in history were the mosasaurs, a clade of lizards within the suborder Anguimorpha, which also includes the beaded lizards, legless lizards, monitor lizards, and others. These fully aquatic lizards were adapted for a life at sea, and ranged from the 1 m (3.3 ft) long Dallasaurus turneri, to the 12 meter (39 ft) long apex predator Mosasaurus hoffmannii.

Though they survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, many squamate species are now endangered due to habitat loss, hunting, the pet trade, invasive species, and other anthropogenic causes. Because of this, some squamate species have recently become extinct. Breeding programs exist in many zoos, both to retain reservoir populations and to boost populations in the wild through releases. Unfortunately, not every species is charismatic, and it can be hard to get the public invested and involved in squamate conservation.