Post by tubalytz77 on Feb 11, 2010 13:51:54 GMT 11
Some of you might wonder "what's the difference with the two?" and how to determine the difference between a columbian tegu to a argentine tegu? meaning all tegus from columbia be it black and white, gold etc. that comes from columbia. and argentine be it red, B&W, Blue as long as it's from argentina. The obvious response will be the columbian tegu comes from columbia (duh?!) and so is the argentine tegu is to argentina.
but there's more to it than just a locality there a scientific and visual guides that can determine the sub species of your tegu or if your planning to buy one. so here goes..
the word tegu actually means "large lizard" in some parts of the world.. The argentine tegu's scientific name was use to be "Tupinambis teguixin", but not until recently it was change into
"Tupinambis merianae", and the columbian was called "Tupinambis teguixin."
so:
argentine tegu = "Tupinambis merianae"
columbian tegu = "Tupinambis teguixin"
some facts first before we get into the visual guides,
the largest of the tegus is the black and white tegu.
and now for the visual aids: (i will be using some of my pics and some from the internet as i don't have a columbian tegu)
behavior wise:
Size:
columbian tegus usually range from the size of around 3ft more or less
argentine tegus tends to be bigger at around 4ft to 5ft
Prices:
argentine tegus are more expensive to the colubian usually x3 more expensive.
here some visual comparison i found in the web:
Note: The tegus featured in these pictures are both babies, with the T. teguixin being several months older than the T. merianae. As adults, the T. merianae will be much larger than the T. teguixin
The first and easiest difference to see between the argentine and columbian tegu is the loreal scales. The loreal scales are located between the nostril scale and the scales that surround the eye. You should be able to see how T. merianae has two loreal scales while T. teguixin has one larger loreal scale. (T. merianae is on the left):
Also, you can clearly see that their body markings are very different (in the first picture below, the top tegu is the T. teguixin, in the second picture below the top tegu is the T. merianae):
thanks for taking the time to read this and from me and my argentine black and white tegu (Bruno), we would like to say best regards to all of you and happy herping!
Bleeee
but there's more to it than just a locality there a scientific and visual guides that can determine the sub species of your tegu or if your planning to buy one. so here goes..
the word tegu actually means "large lizard" in some parts of the world.. The argentine tegu's scientific name was use to be "Tupinambis teguixin", but not until recently it was change into
"Tupinambis merianae", and the columbian was called "Tupinambis teguixin."
so:
argentine tegu = "Tupinambis merianae"
columbian tegu = "Tupinambis teguixin"
some facts first before we get into the visual guides,
the largest of the tegus is the black and white tegu.
and now for the visual aids: (i will be using some of my pics and some from the internet as i don't have a columbian tegu)
- The Argentine Black & White tegu has a beaded skin, like that of a gila monster or an anolis. The Columbian tegus have very smooth scales that completely cover the animal. The Columbian tegus are smooth, like a skink almost.
- The Argentine Black & White tegus also have two linear arrays of yellow dots, one on each side of its back, running from the neck to the beginning of the tail . Those yellow dots form two clearly visible lines on the Argentine tegu's back.
- One difference, among many, is that the Argentine tegu, T. merianae, has two loreal scales while the Columbian tegu, T. teguixin, has only one
behavior wise:
- argentine tegus tend to be calmer/ less agressive
- columbian tegus are a bit jumpier / a bit agressive at times
Size:
columbian tegus usually range from the size of around 3ft more or less
argentine tegus tends to be bigger at around 4ft to 5ft
Prices:
argentine tegus are more expensive to the colubian usually x3 more expensive.
here some visual comparison i found in the web:
Note: The tegus featured in these pictures are both babies, with the T. teguixin being several months older than the T. merianae. As adults, the T. merianae will be much larger than the T. teguixin
The first and easiest difference to see between the argentine and columbian tegu is the loreal scales. The loreal scales are located between the nostril scale and the scales that surround the eye. You should be able to see how T. merianae has two loreal scales while T. teguixin has one larger loreal scale. (T. merianae is on the left):
Also, you can clearly see that their body markings are very different (in the first picture below, the top tegu is the T. teguixin, in the second picture below the top tegu is the T. merianae):
thanks for taking the time to read this and from me and my argentine black and white tegu (Bruno), we would like to say best regards to all of you and happy herping!
Bleeee 
