Order Squamata
Suborder Scincomorpha
Family Xantusiidae (Night Lizards)
Cricosaura typica
Appearance: relatively flat bodies and heads; immoveable, eyelids form a spectacle over each eye; elliptical, i.e. vertical pupils; geckolike with soft granular-scaled back and limbs but large plates on the head and ventrally on the trunk.A gular fold and a fold of skin on each side of the body.
Distribution: from the southwest US to Panama, Cuba (Cricosaura).
Habitat: in and under ground litter, in rock crevices, beneath the canopy of low, dense vegetation; from desert to forest habitats.
Size: <>
Food: insectivorous, partly herbivorous.
Behaviour: they are strictly diurnal (although they have been mistaken to be nocturnal because of their secretive life-style). Mostly sedentary.
Reproduction: several species are parthenogenetic; in fact, some parthenogenetic Lepidophyma species are bisexual and others are unisexual. All Xantusiids are viviparous (= live-bearing).
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