Argentine black and white tegu
| Argentine black and white tegu | |
|---|---|
| Male | |
| Female | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Teiidae |
| Genus: | Salvator |
| Species: | S. merianae |
| Binomial name | |
| Salvator merianae A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1839 | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
The Argentine black and white tegu (Salvator merianae), also known as the Argentine giant tegu, the black and white tegu, or 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 semi-deserts of eastern and central South America.
Tegus are sometimes kept as pets by humans. They are notable for their unusually high intelligence and can also be housebroken. Like other reptiles, tegus go into brumation in autumn when the temperature drops. They exhibit a high level of activity during their wakeful period of the year. They are the only known extant non-avian reptiles to be partly endothermic.
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.