Weapontail

Weapontail
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Iguania
Family:	Hoplocercinae
Genus:	Hoplocercus Fitzinger, 1843
Species:	H. spinosus
Binomial name
Hoplocercus spinosus (Fitzinger, 1843)[1]

The Weapontail or Brazilian spiny-tailed lizard (Hoplocercus spinosus) is a lizard belonging to the monotypic genus Hoplocercus.^[1] It is found in the Cerrado and adjacent Cerrado–Amazon mosaics in Brazil and Bolivia.^[1] 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.^[1]

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.^[1] It is nocturnal, and feeds on arthropods.^[1]

References

Further reading

• Avila-Pires,T.C.S. (1995). Lizards of Brazilian Amazonia (Reptilia: Squamata). Zool. Verh., Leiden 299: 1-706
• Boulenger, G.A. (1885). Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 2, Second edition. London, xiii+497 pp.
• Dirksen, L. & De la Riva, I. 1999. The lizards and amphisbaenians of Bolivia (Reptilia, Squamata): checklist, localities, and bibliography. Graellsia 55: 199-215
• Estes, Richard & Pregill, Gregory, eds. 1988. Phylogenetic relationships of the Lizard Families: Esaays Commemorating Charles L. Camp. Stanford University Press, xvi + 632 pp.
• Fitzinger, L. (1843). Systema Reptilium, fasciculus primus, Amblyglossae. Braumüller et Seidel, Wien: 106 pp.
• Harvey, M. B. (1995). A preliminary list of the reptiles and amphibians of the El Refugio biological reserve. In: Forsyth, A. (ed.), A report on aspects of biodiversiy and conservation potential in El Refugio.