#lepidophyma

Tropical Night Lizard (Lepidophyma flavimaculatum), family Xantusiidae, Costa Rica

Yellow-spotted Tropical Night Lizard (Lepidophyma flavimaculatum), family Xantusiidae, Sarapiquí, Costa Rica

Live-bearing (viviparous).

Parthenogenic (asexual reproduction).

The night lizards may have been the only terrestrial vertebrates that survived in the region of the asteroid impact 66 million years ago, which led to the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs.

A small, secretive group of lizards that still exists today may have been the only terrestrial vertebrates that survived in the vicinity of the Chicxulub asteroid collision, which led to the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs. It has long been known that xantusiid night lizards are an ancient lineage that have persisted for tens of millions of years. But Chase Brownstein at Yale University and his colleagues suspected that the group may have actually arisen earlier than previously thought: in the Cretaceous Period, which ended around 66 million years ago...

Read more: Enigmatic lizards somehow survived near Chicxulub asteroid impact | New Scientist

Smith’s Tropical Night Lizard (Lepidophyma smithii), family Xantusiidae, found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico

Tuxtla Night Lizard (Lepidophyma tuxtlae), family Xantusiidae, endemic to Mexico

Tropical Night Lizard (Lepidophyma reticulatum), family Xantusiidae, Costa Rica

Tropical Night Lizard (Lepidophyma reticulatum), family Xantusiidae, Costa Rica