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Ameiva chrysolaema

(Hisaniolan Giant Ameiva)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Hisaniolan Giant Ameiva, Common Ameiva

Description

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Habitat

Ecology: This species is found in the xeric lowlands between major mountain ranges and along the southern and eastern coasts (Gifford et al. 2004). It inhabits Acacia scrub and woods , xeric woodlands, mangrove borders , scrublands, and open beaches with some cover (Schwartz and Henderson 1991). It may also occur in mesic areas around human habitation, where population density is approximately 140 lizards/ha (Schwartz and Henderson 1991, Schell et al. 1993). 

On the Barahona Peninsula, the species is almost always associated with soil substrate, whereas other concurrent species of this genus are associated with rocky outcrops or substrates (Gifford et al. 2002).

This species creates two distinct types of burrows, one for shelter and one for egg laying . This species is oviparous , with a clutch size of five eggs (Schwartz and Henderson 1991). The eggs are deposited in an accessory chamber of the main deposition burrow and covered with packed earth. These lizards may eat Anolis eggs (Schwartz and Henderson 1991). [1].

List of Habitats :

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Ameiva chrysolaema — Boulenger 1885: 355 • Ameiva chrysolaema — Fischer 1888: 24 • Ameiva chrysolaema — Schwartz & Henderson 1991: 186 • Cnemidophorus affinis • Cnemidophorus affinis Fischer 1883: 1

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Comment: Syntypes: USNM 12140, USNM 12142. For illustrations see Fischer, 1883 (as Cnemidophorus affinis ); Klingel, 1929; Mertens, 1939; Cochran, 1941; Schwartz and Klinikowski, 1966.

Sixteen subspecies are currently recognized, but some may warrant elevation to full-species status (Gifford et al. 2004).

Subspecies:
Ameiva chrysolaema chrysolaema Cope, 1868
Ameiva chrysolema abbotti Noble, 1923
Ameiva chrysolema alacris Schwartz & Klinikowski, 1966
Ameiva chrysolaema boekeri Mertens, 1938
Ameiva chrysolaema defensor Schwartz & Klinikowski, 1966
Ameiva chrysolaema evulsa Schwartz, 1973
Ameiva chrysolaema ficta Schwartz & Klinikowski, 1966
Ameiva chrysolaema jacta Schwartz & Klinikowski, 1966
Ameiva chrysolaema parvoris Schwartz & Klinikowski, 1966
Ameiva chrysolaema procax Schwartz & Klinikowski, 1966
Ameiva chrysolaema quadrijugis Schwartz, 1968
Ameiva chrysolaema regularis Fischer, 1888
Ameiva chrysolaema richardthomasi Schwartz & Klinikowski, 1966
Ameiva chrysolaema secessa Schwartz & Klinikowski, 1966
Ameiva chrysolaema umbratilis Schwartz & Klinikowski, 1966
Ameiva chrysolaema woodi Cochran, 1934.[1].

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Ameiva

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 37 species and subspecies in this genus:

A. ameiva (Giant Ameiva) · A. anomala (Echternacht's Ameiva) · A. auberi (Auber's Ameiva) · A. bifrontata (Cope's Ameiva) · A. bridgesii (Bridges'ameiva) · A. chaitzami (Chaitzam's Ameiva) · A. chrysolaema (Hisaniolan Giant Ameiva) · A. cineracea (Guadeloupe Ameiva) · A. corax (Anguilla Black Ameiva) · A. corvina (Sombrero Ameiva) · A. dorsalis (Jamaica Ameiva) · A. edracantha (Bocourt's Ameiva) · A. erythrocephala (St. Christopher Ameiva) · A. exsul (Puerto Rican Ground Lizard) · A. exsul exsul (Common Puerto Rican Ameiva) · A. festiva (Middleamerican Ameiva) · A. festiva festiva (Middleamerican Ameiva) · A. fuscata (Dominican Ameiva) · A. griswoldi (Antiguan Ameiva) · A. leberi (Hispaniola Ameiva) · A. leptophrys (Delicate Ameiva) · A. lineolata (Pigmy Blue-Tailed Ameiva) · A. lineolata lineolata (Dwarf Teiid) · A. major (Martinique Giant Ameiva) · A. maynardi (Great Inagua Ameiva) · A. maynardii (Inagua Ameiva) · A. orcesi (Peters' Ameiva) · A. pluvianotata (Montiserrat Ameiva) · A. polops (Saint Croix Ground Lizard) · A. provitaae (Mato Trompa Roja) · A. quadrilineata (Four-Lined Ameiva) · A. septemlineata (Seven-Lined Ameiva) · A. taeniura (Hispaniolan Blue-Tailed Ameiva) · A. taeniura taeniura (Haitian Ameiva) · A. undulata (Rainbow Ameiva) · A. undulata undulata (Rainbow Ameiva) · A. wetmorei (Blue-Tailed Ground Lizard)

More Info

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Further Reading

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  • A contribution to the zoögeography of the West Indies, with especial reference to amphibians and reptiles / by Thomas Barbour. 44 1914 Cambridge, U.S.A.: Printed for the Museum, 1914. url p. 309.
  • Breviora. 1969 Cambridge, Mass.: Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, [1952- url p. 18.
  • Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. url , , p. 21, p. 270, p. 272, p. 275, p. 277, p. 277, p. 282, p. 283, p. 284, p. 285, p. 285, p. 287, p. 289, p. 291, p. 291, p. 82.
  • Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. 137 1968 Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, 1863- url p. 286, p. 347, title (no. 10), page 425, article start, page 427, p. 431, p. 432, p. 433, p. 435, p. 440, fig. 3, page 445, p. 451, p. 453, p. 454, p. 455, p. 459, p. 461, p. 465, p. 470, p. 473, fig. 10, page 476, p. 479, p. 483, p. 486, p. 487.
  • Occasional papers of the Boston Society of Natural History. Boston, Boston Society of Natural History, 1869-1941. url p. 181.
  • Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Philadelphia, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia url p. 127.
  • Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Washington, Biological Society of Washington url p. 54.
  • Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] url p. 10.
  • The University of Kansas science bulletin. 43 1962 [Lawrence]: University of Kansas, 1902-1996. url p. 65.
  • The palatal dentition in squamate reptiles: morphology, development, attachment, and replacement / D. Luke Mahler, Maureen Kearney. 108 2006 Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, c2006. url p. 29.
  • Tulane studies in zoology and botany. 22 1980 New Orleans: Tulane University, [1968- url p. 2.
  • Vertebrate life / Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, c1996. url p. 470, p. 779.

Notes

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Contributors

  • Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
  • Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed February 5, 2012.
  • Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 27, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 4 providers.
  • IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. . Downloaded on January 28, 2012.
  • Powell, R., and Hedges, S.B. 2010. Ameiva chrysolaema. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloadedon 30January2012.
  • Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
  • TIGR Reptile Database . Release date: October 2, 2007
  • Uetz, Peter. The Reptile Database

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 27, 2008:

  • Carnegie Museums: Amphibians and Reptiles
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History: Vertebrate specimens
  • Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University: MCZ Herpetology Collection - Reptile Database
  • Yale University Peabody Museum: Peabody Herp Collection DiGIR provider Service

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Powell, R., and Hedges, S.B. 2010. Ameiva chrysolaema. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 30 January 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 7/21/2012