Animalia > Chordata > Squamata > Teiidae > Salvator > Salvator merianaeSalvator merianae (Tegu lizard)Synonyms: Lacertus tupinambis; Salvator merianae buzioensis (heterotypic); Salvator merianae sebastiani (heterotypic); Tupinambis merianae; Tupinambis teguixin; Tupinambis teguixin buzioensis; Tupinambis teguixin sebastiani The Argentine black and white tegu (Salvator merianae), also called the Argentine giant tegu, is the largest species of tegu lizard. They are an omnivorous species which inhabits the tropical rain forests, savannas, and semi-deserts of east and central South America. Argentine tegus have unusually high intelligence. It has been observed and recorded that some will regularly and clearly seek out human affection, just as a dog or cat might. Some form a strong attachment to their keeper. Some have been reported to come on command; they can also be house-broken. |
| Adult Weight [1] | 3.909 lbs (1.773 kg) | | Birth Weight [1] | 15 grams | | Female Weight [1] | 2.943 lbs (1.335 kg) | | Male Weight [1] | 4.877 lbs (2.212 kg) | | Weight Dimorphism [1] | 65.7 % |  | | Gestation [1] | 5 months 2 days | | Litter Size [1] | 7 | | Litters / Year [1] | 1 | | Maximum Longevity [1] | 16 years | | Reproductive Mode [2] | Oviparous | | Snout to Vent Length [1] | 13 inches (34 cm) | | | Habitat Substrate [2] | Terrestrial |
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| Name |
Countries |
Ecozone |
Biome |
Species |
Report |
Climate |
Land
Use |
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Alta Paraná Atlantic forests |
Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina |
Neotropic |
Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests |
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Araucaria moist forests |
Brazil |
Neotropic |
Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests |
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Caatinga |
Brazil |
Neotropic |
Deserts and Xeric Shrublands |
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Cerrado |
Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay |
Neotropic |
Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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Espinal |
Argentina |
Neotropic |
Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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Humid Chaco |
Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil |
Neotropic |
Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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Humid Pampas |
Argentina |
Neotropic |
Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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Mato Grosso seasonal forests |
Brazil |
Neotropic |
Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests |
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Pantanal |
Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay |
Neotropic |
Flooded Grasslands and Savannas |
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Paraná flooded savanna |
Argentina |
Neotropic |
Flooded Grasslands and Savannas |
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Southern Cone Mesopotamian savanna |
Argentina |
Neotropic |
Flooded Grasslands and Savannas |
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Uruguayan savanna |
Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina |
Neotropic |
Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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| Name |
Location |
Endemic |
Species |
Website |
|
Atlantic Forest |
Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay |
No |
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Cerrado |
Brazil |
No |
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Attributes / relations provided by ♦ 1Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109 ♦ 2Meiri, Shai (2019), Data from: Traits of lizards of the world: variation around a successful evolutionary design, Dryad, Dataset, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.f6t39kj ♦ 3Anurans as prey: an exploratory analysis and size relationships between predators and their prey, L. F. Toledo, R. S. Ribeiro & C. F. B. Haddad, Journal of Zoology 271 (2007) 170–177 ♦ 4Feeding Habits and Habitat Use in Bothrops pubescens (Viperidae, Crotalinae) from Southern Brazil, Marília T. Hartmann, Paulo A. Hartmann, Sonia Z. Cechin, and Marcio Martins, Journal of Herpetology, Vol. 39, No. 4, pp. 664667, 2005 Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database |
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0
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