Biology:Curly-tailed lizards
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| Curly-tailed lizards | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Iguania |
| Family: | Leiocephalidae Frost & Etheridge, 1989 |
| Genus: | Leiocephalus Gray, 1827[1] |
The curly-tailed lizards belong to the family Leiocephalidae. One of the defining features of these lizards is that, when approached, their tail curls over. They were previously regarded as members of subfamily Leiocephalinae within the family Tropiduridae. There are presently 29 known species. However, Leiocephalus is the only genus within the family Leiocephalidae.
Global Dispersion
The curly-tailed lizards are localized to the Caribbean, more specifically Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.[2]
General Anatomy
The curly-tailed lizards are approximately 90mm SVL (snout-to-vent length). These lizards have no femoral pores, pterygoid teeth, or palatine teeth. Additionally, these lizards are observed to have overlapping scales.[2]
Basic Biology
The curly-tailed lizards generally forage on flowers, fruits, and insects.[2] It is unofficially theorized that the tail curl may be a defensive mechanism meant to mimic that of a scorpion considering the arthropod inhabits the Caribbean and that the lizard only curls its tail when approached by a larger mammal.
Conservation Status
There is very little known about the biology of Leiocephalidae. Its IUCN status is listed as data deficient.
Updates
Recently, there was a newly discovered species belonging to Leiocephalidae. The species was found in the coastal dunes of Bahía de las Calderas, i.e. in the southwestern Dominican Republic. This species differs from the rest within Leiocephalidae in that its bony parietal table is U-shaped versus V-shaped, the males have 3-4 enlarged post-postcloacal scales versus 2, and there are specific sexual dimorphism trails.[3]
Species and subspecies
The following species and subspecies, listed alphabetically by scientific name, are recognized as being valid.[4]
- Leiocephalus anonymous Pregill, 1984
- Leiocephalus apertosulcus Etheridge, 1965
- Leiocephalus barahonensis Schmidt, 1921 – orange-bellied curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus barahonensis altavelensis Noble & Hassler, 1933 – Alto Velo curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus barahoensis aureus Cochran, 1934
- Leiocephalus barahonensis barahonensis Schmidt, 1921
- Leiocephalus barahoensis beatanus Noble, 1923
- Leiocephalus barahoensis oxygaster A. Schwartz, 1967
- Leiocephalus carinatus Gray, 1827 – Cuban curly-tailed lizard, northern curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus carinatus aquarius A. Schwartz & Ogren, 1956
- Leiocephalus carinatus armouri Barbour & Shreve, 1935 – Little Bahama curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus carinatus carinatus Gray, 1827
- Leiocephalus carinatus cayensis A. Schwartz, 1959
- Leiocephalus carinatus coryi Schmidt, 1936 – saw-scaled curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus carinatus granti Rabb, 1957 – Cayman Brac curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus carinatus hodsoni Schmidt, 1936
- Leiocephalus carinatus labrossytus A. Schwartz, 1959
- Leiocephalus carinatus microcyon A. Schwartz, 1959
- Leiocephalus carinatus mogotensis A. Schwartz, 1959
- Leiocephalus carinatus virescens Stejneger, 1901
- Leiocephalus carinatus zayasi A. Schwartz, 1959
- Leiocephalus cubensis (Gray, 1840) – Cuban brown curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus cubensis cubensis (Gray, 1840)
- Leiocephalus cubensis gigas A. Schwartz, 1959
- Leiocephalus cubensis minor Varona & Garrido, 1970
- Leiocephalus cubensis pambasileus A. Schwartz, 1959
- Leiocephalus cubensis paraphrus A. Schwartz, 1959
- Leiocephalus cuneus Etheridge, 1964 – Antiguan curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus endomychus A. Schwartz, 1967 – Hinche curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus eremitus (Cope, 1868) – Navassa curly-tailed lizard
- † Leiocephalus etheridgei Pregill, 1981 – Etheridge's curly-tailed lizard (EXTINCT)[5]
- Leiocephalus greenwayi Barbour & Shreve, 1935 – East Plana curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus herminieri (A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1837) – Martinique curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus inaguae Cochran, 1931 – Inagua curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus jamaicensis Etheridge, 1966 – Jamaican curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus loxogrammus (Cope, 1887) – San Salvador curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus loxogrammus loxogrammus (Cope, 1887)
- Leiocephalus loxogrammus parnelli Barbour & Shreve, 1935
- Leiocephalus lunatus Cochran, 1934 – Santo Domingo curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus lunatus arenicolor Mertens, 1939
- Leiocephalus lunatus lewisi A. Schwartz, 1967
- Leiocephalus lunatus louisae Cochran, 1934
- Leiocephalus lunatus lunatus Cochran, 1934
- Leiocephalus lunatus melaenoscelis A. Schwartz, 1967
- Leiocephalus lunatus thomasi A. Schwartz, 1967
- Leiocephalus macropus (Cope, 1863) – Cuban side-blotched curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus macropus aegialus A. Schwartz & Garrido, 1967
- Leiocephalus macropus asbolomus A. Schwartz & Garrido, 1967
- Leiocephalus macropus felinoi Garrido, 1979
- Leiocephalus macropus hoplites Zug, 1959
- Leiocephalus macropus hyacinthurus Zug, 1959
- Leiocephalus macropus immaculatus Hardy, 1958
- Leiocephalus macropus koopmani Zug, 1959
- Leiocephalus macropus lenticulatus Garrido, 1973
- Leiocephalus macropus macropus (Cope, 1863)
- Leiocephalus macropus phylax A. Schwartz & Garrido, 1967
- Leiocephalus macropus torrei Garrido, 1979
- Leiocephalus melanochlorus (Cope, 1863) – Tiburon curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus melanochlorus hypsistus Schwartz, 1966
- Leiocephalus melanochlorus melanochlorus (Cope, 1863)
- Leiocephalus onaneyi Garrido, 1973 – Guantanamo striped curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus personatus (Cope, 1863) – Hispaniolan masked curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus pratensis (Cochran, 1928) – Haitian striped curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus pratensis chimarus A. Schwartz, 1979
- Leiocephalus pratensis pratensis (Cochran, 1928)
- Leiocephalus psammodromus Barbour, 1920 – Turks and Caicos curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus psammodromus aphretor A. Schwartz, 1967
- Leiocephalus psammodromus apocrinus A. Schwartz, 1967
- Leiocephalus psammodromus cacodoxus A. Schwartz, 1967
- Leiocephalus psammodromus hyphantus A. Schwartz, 1967
- Leiocephalus psammodromus mounax A. Schwartz, 1967
- Leiocephalus psammodromus psammodromus Barbour, 1920
- Leiocephalus punctatus Cochran, 1931 – Crooked Acklins curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus raviceps (Cope, 1863) – pallid curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus raviceps delavarai Garrido, 1973
- Leiocephalus raviceps jaumei A. Schwartz & Garrido, 1968
- Leiocephalus raviceps kilinikowski A. Schwartz, 1960
- Leiocephalus raviceps raviceps (Cope, 1863)
- Leiocephalus raviceps uzzelli A. Schwartz, 1960
- Leiocephalus rhutidira A. Schwartz, 1979 – black-throated curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus schreibersii (Gravenhorst, 1838) – red-sided curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus schreibersii nesomorus A. Schwartz, 1968
- Leiocephalus schreibersii schreibersii (Gravenhorst, 1838)
- Leiocephalus semilineatus Dunn, 1920 – pale-bellied curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus stictigaster A. Schwartz, 1959 – Cuban striped curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus stictigaster astictus A. Schwartz, 1959
- Leiocephalus stictigaster celeustes A. Schwartz & Garrido, 1968
- Leiocephalus stictigaster exotheotus A. Schwartz, 1959
- Leiocephalus stictigaster gibarensis A. Schwartz & Garrido, 1968
- Leiocephalus stictigaster lipomator A. Schwartz & Garrido, 1968
- Leiocephalus stictigaster lucianus A. Schwartz, 1960
- Leiocephalus stictigaster naranjoi A. Schwartz & Garrido, 1968
- Leiocephalus stictigaster ophiplacodes A. Schwartz, 1964
- Leiocephalus stictigaster parasphex A. Schwartz, 1964
- Leiocephalus stictigaster septentrionalis Garrido, 1975
- Leiocephalus stictigaster sierrae A. Schwartz, 1959
- Leiocephalus stictigaster stictigaster A. Schwartz, 1959
- Leiocephalus varius Garman, 1887 – Grand Cayman curly-tailed lizard
- Leiocephalus vinculum Cochran, 1928 – Cochran's curlytail lizard
Nota bene: A binomial authority or trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species or subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Leiocephalus.
References
- ↑ "Leiocepalus ". Dahms Tierleben. www.dahmstierleben.de.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 J.,, Vitt, Laurie. Herpetology : an introductory biology of amphibians and reptiles. Caldwell, Janalee P., (4th ed.). Amsterdam. ISBN 9780123869197. OCLC 839312807. https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/839312807.
- ↑ KÖHLER, GUNTHER; BOBADILLA, MARCOS J. RODRÍGUEZ; HEDGES, S. BLAIR (2016-06-13). "A new dune-dwelling lizard of the genus Leiocephalus (Iguania, Leiocephalidae) from the Dominican Republic" (in en). Zootaxa 4121 (5): 517. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4121.5.2. ISSN 1175-5334. http://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.4121.5.2.
- ↑ "Leiocephalus ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ↑ "The Reptile Database". Zoological Museum Hamburg. http://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
Further reading
- Gray JE (1827). "A Description of a new Genus and some new species of Saurian Reptiles; with a Revision of the Species of Chameleons". Philosoph. Mag. Ann. Chem. Math. Astron. Nat. Hist. Gen. Sci. 2 (9): 207-214. (Leiocephalus, new genus, p. 207).
- Schwartz A, Thomas R (1975). A Check-list of West Indian Amphibians and Reptiles. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Special Publication No. 1. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Carnegie Museum of Natural History. 216 pp. (Leiocephalus species, L. barahonensis – L. viniculum, pp. 126–140).
Wikidata ☰ Q1529907 entry
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