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Species
EndangeredChinese Crocodile Lizard
species
via IUCN
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- taxon
- Mass
- 46.6
- Image
- Chin-krokodilschwanzechse-01.jpg
- Length
- 138
Show 9 more facts
- taxon rank
- species
- IUCN conservation status
- Endangered status
- taxon name
- Shinisaurus crocodilurus
- Commons category
- Shinisaurus crocodilurus
- Commons gallery
- Shinisaurus crocodilurus
- taxon common name
- 鳄蜥
- CITES Appendix
- Appendix I of CITES
- diel cycle
- diurnality
- short name
- S. crocodilurus
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~15 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Chinese crocodile lizard (Shinisaurus crocodilurus) is a semiaquatic anguimorph lizard found only in cool forests in southeastern China and northeastern Vietnam. The Chinese crocodile lizard spends much of its time in shallow water or in overhanging branches and vegetation, where it hunts its prey of insects, snails, tadpoles, and worms. Individuals in captivity may be fed baby mice. A rare and little-studied lizard, it is listed in CITES Appendix II, which regulates international trade of specimens. This is the only species in the monotypic genus Shinisaurus. It is the only living member of Shinisauria, a clade of lizards whose fossil record extends back to the Early Cretaceous, over 120 million years ago.
Description
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Chinese crocodile lizard” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.