Cercosaura Explained

Cercosaura is a genus of lizards in the family Gymnophthalmidae. The genus is endemic to South America.

Taxonomy

The genus Cercosaura includes 18 species according to studies that transfer species from the two genera Pantodactylus and Prionodactylus to this genus.^[1]

Species

The genus Cercosaura contains the following recognized species:^[2]

• Cercosaura anomala – anomalous cercosaura
• Cercosaura anordosquama
• Cercosaura argulus – elegant eyed lizard, white-lipped prionodactylus
• Cercosaura bassleri – ocellated tegu
• Cercosaura doanae
• Cercosaura eigenmanni – Eigenmann's prionodactylus
• Cercosaura hypnoides
• Cercosaura manicata – slender prionodactylus
• Cercosaura nigroventris
• Cercosaura ocellata – ocellated tegu
• Cercosaura olivacea – olive tegu
• Cercosaura oshaughnessyi – white-striped eyed lizard
• Cercosaura pacha
• Cercosaura parkeri – Parker's many-fingered teiid
• Cercosaura phelpsorum
• Cercosaura quadrilineata – lined many-fingered teiid
• Cercosaura schreibersii – Schreibers' many-fingered teiid, long-tailed little lizard
• Cercosaura steyeri

Nota bene

A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Cercosaura.

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume II. ... Teiidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 497 pp. + Plates I-XXIV. (Genus Cercosaura, p. 395).
• Wagler J (1830). Natürliches System der AMPHIBIEN, mit vorangehender Classification der SÄUGTHIERE und VÖGEL. Ein Beitrag zur vergleichenden Zoologie. Munich, Stuttgart and Tübingen: J.G. Cotta. vi + 354 pp. + one plate. (Cercosaura, new genus, p. 158). (in German and Latin).

Notes and References

1. Zootaxa. 3565. 2012. 44–54. A new montane species of Cercosaura (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) from Colombia, with notes on the distribution of the genus. Doan TM, Lamar WW. 10.11646/zootaxa.3565.1.4.
2. . www.reptile-database.org.