The Argentine black and white tegu (Salvator merianae), also commonly known as the Argentine giant tegu, the black and white tegu, the blue tegu, and the huge tegu, is a species of lizard in the family Teiidae. The species is the largest of the "tegu" lizards. It is an omnivorous species, which inhabits the tropical rain forests, savannas, and semideserts of eastern and central South America. It is native to south and southeastern Brazil, Uruguay, eastern Paraguay, Bolivia, and Argentina.
Tegu lizards are sometimes kept as pets, being notable for their unusually high intelligence and their relatively gentle nature. Like some reptiles, tegus enter brumation in autumn when ambient temperature drops. They exhibit a high level of activity during their wakeful period of the year. They are the only known nonavian reptiles to be partly endothermic during breeding season.
Tegus fill ecological niches similar to those of monitor lizards, but are only distantly related to them; the similarities are an example of convergent evolution.
Translated Descriptions (3)
de
wikipedia
Der Schwarzweiße Teju (Salvator merianae, Syn.: Tupinambis merianae) ist eine Echse aus der Familie der Schienenechsen (Teiidae).
fi
wikipedia
Salvator merianae on teijuliskoihin kuuluva laji, joka esiintyy Etelä- ja Keski-Amerikan trooppisissa sademetsissä, savanneilla sekä puoliaroilla. Laji on kaikkiruokainen ja osittain endoterminen/tasalämpöinen.
Teijujen ja varaanien roolit luonnossa ovat hyvin samankaltaiset, ja lajeilla ilmenee samankaltaisia piirteitä, vaikka ne eivät ole läheistä sukua toisilleen. Kyseessä on konvergenttinen evoluutio.
pl
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Teju argentyński, teju czarno-biały (Salvator merianae) – gatunek jaszczurki z rodziny tejowatych (Teiidae), jej największy przedstawiciel. Jaszczurki te zajmują podobne do waranów nisze ekologiczne, co jest przykładem ewolucji konwergentnej.
