| The Mexican/Central American
family of knobby or bark lizards is an unusual group probably related to
the Anguidae. The bodies of these lizards are stocky and flattened,
covered above with small pebble-like tubercles, and below with regular
rows of rectangular plates. The head is massive, also flattened, and
strongly triangular in shape. There are no moving eyelids, and the ear is
concealed beneath the skin, or is very tiny. The tongue is short, broad,
and a little nicked at the tip. The tail is relatively short--shorter than
the head-body length--and very thin. The 1 or rarely 2 young are produced
as large live animals, and females generally reproduce in alternating
years.
Xenosaurs, whose name comes from Greek words
meaning "strange lizards," where a mystery for many years, as
zoologists weren't sure with what other lizards to place them. Many
herpetologists include the lone Chinese crocodile lizard, Shinisaurus
crocodilurus, in the Xenosauridae because of great anatomical
similarity; others place Shinisaurus in its own family, which we
follow here.
Xenosaurs are found in a variety of habitats,
generally in or near pine forests and in the hilly regions that get at
least some regular seasonal rain. They are good climbers and are typically
arboreal.
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