Abronia gadovii explained
Abronia gadovii, also known commonly as Gadow's alligator lizard and el escorpión de Gadow in Mexican Spanish, is a species of lizard in the family Anguidae. The species is endemic to the highlands of the Sierra Madre del Sur in Guerrero and Oaxaca, Mexico. Two subspecies are recognized:
Etymology
The specific name, gadovii, is in honor of German ornithologist Hans Friedrich Gadow.[1]
Habitat
The preferred natural habitat of A. gadovii is forest, including second-growth forest.
Description
A. gadovii may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of about, plus a tail length of about .[2]
Diet
A. gadovii preys predominately upon insects, and is known to also devour small lizards.[3]
Reproduction
A. gadovii is ovoviviparous.
Subspecies
Two subspecies are recognized as being valid including the nominotypical subspecies.
- Abronia gadovii gadovii – Guerrero
- Abronia gadovii levigata – Oaxaca
Nota bene
A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Abronia.
Further reading
- Boulenger GA (1913). "Descriptions of new Lizards in the Collection of the British Museum". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Eighth Series 12: 563–566. (Gerrhonotus gadovii, new species. pp. 564–565).
- Good DA (1988). Phylogenetic Relationships Among Gerrhonotine Lizards: An Analysis of External Morphology. (University of California Publications in Zoology, Volume 121). Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press. x + 139 pp. . (Mesaspis gadovii, new combination, p. 82).
- Tihen JA (1949). "A Review of the Lizard Genus Barisia". University of Kansas Science Bulletin 33 (1): 217–254 + Plates I–II. (Barisia gadovii levigata, new subspecies, pp. 231–233 + Plate II, figures 3–5).
Notes and References
- [species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]
- [George Albert Boulenger|Boulenger GA]
- [species:Rufino Santos-Bibiano|Santos-Bibiano, Rufino]
