Viviparous Lizard
mastermindnews- New Reptile of the day. Land Tortoise Tortoises (Testudinidae) or land turtles are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles (Testudines). Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise has both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton. Tortoises can vary in size from a few centimeters to two meters. Tortoises are usually diurnal animals with tendencies to be crepuscular depending on the ambient temperatures. They are generally reclusive animals. Although the word “tortoise” is used by biologists in reference to the family Testudinidae only, in common usage it is used to describe many land-dwelling turtles. The inclusiveness of the term depends on the variety of English being used. British English normally describes these reptiles as “tortoises” if they live on land. American English tends to use the word “tortoise” for land-dwelling species, including members of Testudinidae, as well as other species such as box tortoises, though use of “turtle” by default is as common. Australian English uses “tortoise” for terrestrial species, including semi-aquatic species that live near ponds and streams. Traditionally a “tortoise” has feet (including webbed feet) while a “turtle” has flippers. Giant tortoises move very slowly on dry land, at only 0.17 miles per hour (0.27 km/h) Most …
A Monitor lizard, the kind that Shivaji used in order to climb up the sides of a fort wall! Various names for it are Bis-cobra in western India, Guishaap or Goshaap in West Bengal and Bangladesh, and ghorpad in Maharashtra. Bengal monitor (Varanus bengalensis) or the Common Indian Monitor, is a monitor lizard found widely in South Asia. This large lizard is mainly terrestrial and grows to about 185 centimeters from the tip of the snout to the tail. Young monitors may be more arboreal (tree dwelling) but adults mainly hunt on the ground preying on arthropods but also taking small terrestrial vertebrates, birds and eggs. Although large monitors have few predators apart from humans who hunt them for meat, younger individuals are hunted by numerous predators. This animal is found in Delhi and at the premises of Wilderness Films India Ltd. in NewDelhi! This footage is part of the professionally-shot stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and Digital Betacam. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world… wfi @ vsnl.com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com .
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Anolis carolinensis porcatus Family: Iguanidae The most common lizards in Texas gardens are the anoles, often mistakenly called chameleons. They are usually bright green, and the males have a pink throat fan that they display when showing off for the ladies. They can change color to brown. They eat insects and add beauty to the garden. Geckos are great lizards for insect control. There are at least three species here in Texas. Asian geckos are smooth-skinned and about 4 to 5 inches long at maturity. The Mediterranean gecko is the same size but has bumps and a ringed tail. Both love to eat young roaches, grasshoppers, katydids, ants, and other insects. They are pale and translucent and have large lidless eyes. Their toes have broad pads and claws extending beyond the pads. The Mediterranean gecko was introduced to Texas several years ago and has now naturalized across at least half the state. This is the most commonly seen gecko because it likes to live around lighted buildings so it can eat the insects that are attracted to the light. Breeding takes place for four or five months in the spring. They lay one to two eggs under shutters or even in the bases of light fixtures. The third species is the tokay gecko, also an Asian import. It is much larger and much more aggressive; although naturalized in some parts of Texas, we do not recommend its release. Unlike the small geckos, it can give you a painful bite. It feeds on insects but also eats small geckos and other animals …
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