Added 1 September 2002. Last updated 15 September 2002: added details for T. princeps and corrected T. tangitana to T. p. tangitana.
This is something of an endpiece, since there is really only one genus of Asian lacertids, the Takydromus or Grass Lizards. The genus Timon is placed here also since it is little known and two of its three species occur in Turkey, which might just qualify as Asia. This would be less anomalous if the genus did not also include (according to some authorities, including EMBL) the Ocellated Lizard Timon lepida (better known as Lacerta lepida) of southern France, northern Spain and northern Italy.
QUICK INDEX
| Takydromus, Grass Lizards | Timon |
This is the only real Asian genus of the Lacertidae, members being found from
E Russia through China, India and SE Asia as far south as Indonesia. All are
fairly elongated, narrow-bodied lizards whose tail length may double that of
the body. Details on the various species are scarce, so please do not expect
this section to be completed for some time. The species listing is courtesy
of the ever-excellent EMBL reptile database.
| Scientific Name | Common Name | Distribution | Size | Notes |
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| T. amurensis | E Russia, NE China, Korea, Japan (Tshushima Islands) | ?" | An olive-brown lacertid with a varying pattern: Shannon mentions that one found in 1952 was in rocky terrain with scattered pine trees. Scalation details [from Shannon]: 7-11 (usually 8) enlarged dorsal scales, of which 1-2 central rows maybe somewhat reduced. Coloration: overall olive-brown. There is black dorsolateral stripe just below keeled rows: this is bordered by a thin white band running from snout to groin. This white border may by broken by black blotches, be reduced or be absent altogether. Occasional individuals lack almost any pattern. | |
| T. dorsalis | Japan (Ishigaki Island in the Ryuku islands) | ?" | Very limited distribution: see EMBL database entry for details. | |
| T. formosanus | Taiwan | ?" | ?. | |
| T. hani | SE Asia Green Grass Lizard | Vietnam (Ha Tinh) | ?" | |
| T. haughtonianus | India (Assam) | ?" | ?. | |
| T. hsuehshanensis | C Taiwan | ?" | ?. | |
| T. intermedius | SW China | ?" | ?. | |
| T. khasiensis | India (Assam), Burma | ?" | ?. | |
| T. kuehnei | China, Taiwan, Vietnam | ?" | ?. | |
| T. k. kuehnei | China, Taiwan, Vietnam | ?" | ?. | |
| T. k. vietnamensis | China, Taiwan, Vietnam | ?" | ?. | |
| T. sauteri | Taiwan | ?" | ?. | |
| T. septentrionalis | S China, Taiwan | 10?" | Less slender than T. sexlineatus. Scalation details (from IndiaHerps): 7 upper and 6 lower labials. Dorsal scales: strongly keeled, 4 longitudinal rows. Ventral scales: keeled, 8 longitudinal and 28 transverse rows. | |
| T. sexlineatus | India (Sikkim, Assam), China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Borneo) | 14" | This is the Takydromus species most commonly seen in the pet trade, probably because of its very wide distribution. | |
| T. s. sexlineatus | Scalation details (from IndiaHerps): 3 pairs of chin-shields. Dorsal scales: strongly keeled, 4 longitudinal rows. Ventral scales: keeled, 10 longitudinal and 22-23 transverse rows. | |||
| T. s. meridionalis | Scalation details (from IndiaHerps): 3 pairs of chin-shields. Dorsal scales: strongly keeled, 4 longitudinal rows. Ventral scales: keeled, 10 longitudinal and 22-23 transverse rows. | |||
| T. s. ocellatus | S China, Hainan, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, N Burma, N Malaysia | |||
| T. smaragdinus | Japan (Ryuku Islands) | ?" | ?. | |
| T. stejnegeri | Taiwan | ?" | ?. | |
| T. sylvaticus | China | ?" | ?. | |
| T. tachydromoides | Japan (Honshu, Kyushu, Tsushima), S Korea | ?" | ?. | |
| T. t. oldi | ||||
| T. t. tachydromoides | ||||
| T. toyamai | Japan (Ryukus) | ?" | Only described in 1996: see EMBL database entry for details. | |
| T. wolteri | E Russia, Korea, E China | ?" | Scalation details [from Shannon]: single femoral pore on each side. Coloration: dark dorsal stripe, about 3 scales wide. Distinct white ventrolateral band 1 scale wide runs from tip of snout to groin. | |
A genus of three species formerly considered as members of the Lacerta genus.
The EMBL
database notes that Timon is actually a "subgenus" of Lacerta.
T. lepidus is well known among herpetologists but the other two species
are rarely seen if ever in captivity.
| Scientific Name | Common Name | Distribution | Size | Notes |
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| T. lepida | Ocellated Lizard, Jewelled Lizard, Eyed Lizard | Iberian peninsula, S France, N Italy | ?" | More usually known by the species name Lacerta lepida. |
| T. pater | North African Ocellated Lizard | Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco | 20" | Originally a subspecies of L. lepida but raised to full species status by Bischoff, 1982. T. p. tangitana is the western, T. p. pater the eastern subspecies, separated from one another by the Oued Mouloya valley.. There are no other lizards similar to this within its range. The species is a basic green or brown, depending on subspecies and sex. Kästle et al note that these lizards prefer open landscape with sufficient cover and often bushes, but are otherwise quite catholic, using meadows, dense low shrubs, thorn thickets, and rocky areas such as outcrops or slopes. Olive groves and stone walls are examples of man-made cover exploited by T. pater (as indeed by T. lepida in SW Europe). Apart from the usual invertebrates, T. pater may take frogs, small snakes and young birds. Breeding takes place in April, with 2-3 clutches, of about 2-20 eggs, being laid at about 4 week intervals (14-18 days after mating) throughout the year. Hatchlings are olive brown with white ocelli. Sexual maturity is reached (at least in captivity, see Kästle et al) in about 1 year. |
| T. p. pater | Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco | 21" | Distinguishable from T. p. tangitana by its wider snout with its slightly different scalation. There is also greater sexual dimorphism in this subspecies: males tend to have a yellow throat with weakly expressed and closed ocelli, whereas females have greenish throats and more distinct ocelli (Kästle et al). The base of the tail is the same colour as the dorsum. | |
| T. p. tangitana | Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco | 17" | Distinguishable from T. p. pater by its narrower snout with its slightly different scalation. There is usually a reticulated pattern on the dorsum, as opposed to the plain patterning more usually found on T. p. pater (esp. among the females). The base of the tail is usually dark brown. | |
| T. princeps | ? | SW Iran, SE Turkey, NE Syria, N Iraq | 16" | Attractively coloured lacertid. In Iran it occupies the oak forests of the Zagros mountains. |
Echsen [Lizards] 2, Manfred Rogner, Ulmer, Stuttgart 1994. Only lists Takydromus sexlineatus and Takydromus species but gives useful details on those selected, including husbandry of captives.
"The Reptiles and Amphibians of Korea", Frederick A Shannon, Herpetologica Vol 12 pp.22-48, 1956. Useful summary of the herpetofauna of the Korean peninsula. The author was at the time on military duty in Korea and also had recourse to relevant literature.
A useful site for some details on Takydromus was the online E-book Reptiles of British India by Albert Günther. This was originally published in 1864 so the reader should be aware that a lot of the species have been reclassified since.
There is not much information freely available on Takydromus, although several Chinese sites do offer information in Cantonese or Mandarin.
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