Tropical night lizards (genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Lepidophyma—Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 for "warty scales,") compose one of three genera of night lizards (family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Xantusiidae), which are a group of viviparous (live-bearing) lizard

Lizard

Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...

s. There are 19 tropical night lizard species, making it the most populous night lizard genus. It is distributed throughout Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

, found anywhere from central Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 to Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, depending on the particular species. Tropical night lizards, particularly the yellow-spotted variety, are sometimes called Central American bark lizards by pet dealers and owners.

Classification

Genus Lepidophyma

• Alvarez del Toro's tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma alvarezi
• Sumidero tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma chicoasensis
• Lepidophyma cuicateca
• MacDougall’s tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma dontomasi
• Yellow-spotted tropical night lizard
  Yellow-spotted tropical night lizard
  The yellow-spotted tropical night lizard is a night lizard ranging from central Mexico to Texas. It includes two subspecies, Lepidophyma flavimaculatum flavimaculatum and Lepidophyma flavimaculatum obscurum....
  
  , Lepidophyma flavimaculatum
• Gaige's tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma gaigeae
• Liner's tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma lineri
• Lipetz's tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma lipetzi
• Lowe's tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma lowei
• Mayan tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma mayae
• Cave tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma micropholis
• Jalpan tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma occulor
• Pajapan tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma pajapanensis
• Yautepec tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma radula
• Costa Rican tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma reticulatum
• Sawin's tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma sawini
• Smith's tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma smithii
• Madrean tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma sylvaticum
• Tarascan tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma tarascae
• Tuxtla tropical night lizard, Lepidophyma tuxtlae