Bachia heteropa

Bachia heteropa, commonly known as the LaGuaira bachia, is a species of "microteiid" lizard in the family Gymnophthalmidae. The species is endemic to the Caribbean and South America.

Bachia heteropa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Gymnophthalmidae
Genus: Bachia
Species:
B. heteropa
Binomial name
Bachia heteropa
(Wiegmann, 1856)
Synonyms[1]
  • Chalcides heteropus
    Wiegmann, 1856
  • Bachia heteropus
    — Garman, 1892
  • Bachia lineata
    Boulenger, 1903
  • Scolecosaurus trinitatis
    Barbour, 1914
  • Bachia heteropa
    — Ruthven, 1925

Geographic range

The distribution of B. heteropa includes Grenada, the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela, and Colombia.

Description

B. heteropa can reach a length of 64 mm (2.5 in) snout-to-vent, and its tail may be more than 1.5 times that long. Its limbs are very small relative to its body length. It has four digits on each forelimb, and two digits on each hindlimb. Its body is covered by rows of large, overlapping, hexagonal scales.

Habitat

B. heteropa lives in forests, where it dwells in leaf-litter.

Diet

B. heteropa feeds on arthropods and their larvae.

Subspecies

Five subspecies of Bachia heteropa are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[1]

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Bachia.

Etymology

The subspecific name, alleni, is in honor of American zoologist Glover Morrill Allen.[2]

References
  1. "Bachia heteropa". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  2. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Bachia heteropa alleni, p. 5).

Further reading
  • Malhotra, Anita; Thorpe, Roger S. (1999). Reptiles and Amphibians of the Eastern Caribbean. London: Macmillan Education Ltd. ISBN 0-333-69141-5. (p. 107).
  • 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. (Bachia heteropus, p. 109).
  • Wiegmann AFA (1856). In: Lichtenstein H, von Martens E (1856). Nomenclator et amphibiorum Musei Zoologici Berolinensis. Namenverzeichniss der in der zoologischen Sammlung der Königlichen Universität zu Berlin aufgestellten Arten von Reptilien und Amphibien nach ihren Ordnungen, Familien und Gattungen. Berlin: Königliche Akademie der Wissenschaften. iv + 48 pp. (Chalcides heteropus, new species, p. 17). (in German and Latin).
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