Iverson John B
Department of Biology, Earlham College, Richmond, Indiana 47374.
J Morphol. 1980 Jan;163(1):79-93. doi: 10.1002/jmor.1051630110.
All lizard species of the subfamily Iguaninae except Amblyrynchus cristatus possess from one to eleven transverse valves in the proximal colon. Valves are of two kinds: circular (sometimes with a sphincter valve) or semilunar. Circular valves (if present) always occur proximally to semilunar valves. Intraspecific variation in the number and type of valves is small, but increase with modal number of valves. No significant ontogenetic change in number of valves could be demonstrated. Colic valves in iguanine lizards apparently evolved as simple infoldings of the medical colic wall. Comparisons are made with colic modifications occurring in other lizard families. Herbivorous species of the Scincidae, Agamidae, and Iguanidae are the only lizards known to exhibit colic partitioning, suggesting that the evolution of these structures is intimately related to the evolution of herbivory in these lizards. The potential taxonomic and phylogenetic importance of lizard colon anatomy is discussed.
除海鬣蜥外，鬣蜥亚科的所有蜥蜴物种在近端结肠中都有一到十一个横向瓣膜。瓣膜有两种：圆形（有时带有括约肌瓣膜）或半月形。圆形瓣膜（如果存在）总是出现在半月形瓣膜的近端。种内瓣膜数量和类型的变化很小，但会随着瓣膜的模式数量增加。未发现瓣膜数量有明显的个体发育变化。鬣蜥科蜥蜴的结肠瓣膜显然是作为结肠壁内侧的简单褶皱进化而来的。文中还与其他蜥蜴科的结肠结构变化进行了比较。石龙子科、鬣蜥科和美洲鬣蜥科的草食性物种是已知仅有的表现出结肠分区的蜥蜴，这表明这些结构的进化与这些蜥蜴的草食性进化密切相关。文中讨论了蜥蜴结肠解剖结构在分类学和系统发育学上的潜在重要性。
