Tupinambinae Estes, de Queiroz, and Gauthier

Harvey, Michael B., Ugueto, Gabriel N. & Gutberlet, Ronald L., 2012, 3459, Zootaxa 3459, pp. 1-156 : 133

Tupinambinae Estes, de Queiroz, and Gauthier

Tupinambinae Estes, de Queiroz, and Gauthier 1988: 215 .

Type Genus.— Tupinambis Daudin , designated herein.

Diagnosis.—Of characters we examined, the Tupinambinae are the only living teiids with complete caudal annuli alternating with annuli divided dorsally and a gap of granular scales separating femoral from abdominal pores. They lack circumorbital scales or have 1–3/1–3 circumorbitals restricted to the posterior border of the fourth supraocular. Other characters likely to be diagnostic of the Tupinambinae but assessed for relatively few Teiinae include synapomorphies identified by Presch (1974a) and Sullivan and Estes (1997): short interclavicular median process, second ceratobranchial absent, and postfrontal not in contact with jugal.

Content.— Crocodilurus Spix , Dracaena Daudin , Salvator Duméril and Bibron , and Tupinambis Daudin.

Remarks.— The subfamily names Tupinambinae and Teiinae are attributed to Estes et al. (1988) who elevated Teiini Presch and Tupinambini Presch to subfamiliar rank when defining Teiidae . These authors did not designate a type genus of the subfamily. Accordingly, we here designate Tupinambis as the type genus of Tupinambinae Estes, de Queiroz, and Gauthier.