Kingdom Animalia Suborder Iguania Subfamily Hoplocercinae Phylum Chordata Order Scaled reptiles | Class Sauropsida Family Iguanidae Scientific name Hoplocercus spinosus Rank Species | |
Genus Hoplocercus
Fitzinger, 1843 Similar Hoplocercinae, Morunasaurus, Scaled reptiles, Horned wood lizard, Enyalioides | ||
The Weapontail or Brazilian spiny-tailed lizard (Hoplocercus spinosus) is a lizard belonging to the monotypic genus Hoplocercus. It is found in the Cerrado and adjacent Cerrado–Amazon mosaics in Brazil and Bolivia. It is a quite distantly related of the other members of Hoplocercinae, as it is believed to have diverged from these about 35 million years ago.
As suggested by its name, it has a short, highly spiny tail (it is superficially similar to Uromastyx and the smaller species in Ctenosaura); when disturbed, it retreats to its burrow with the tail orientated towards the entrance. It is nocturnal, and feeds on arthropods.
References
Weapontail Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA