Argentine Black-and-white Tegu

About the Argentine Black-and-white Tegu

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. The Argentine black and white tegu is a member of the family Teiidae, which also includes racerunners and whiptails. The term "tegu... Wikipedia →