Hispaniolan curlytail lizard

The Hispaniolan curlytail lizard (Leiocephalus schreibersii), also known as the Hispaniolan khaki curlytail, the red-sided curly-tailed lizard, or Schreibers' curly-tailed lizard, is a common lizard species in the family Leiocephalidae. It is native to Hispaniola in the Caribbean, and an introduced population is found in southern Florida. There are two recognized subspecies.

Hispaniolan curlytail lizard
In captivity
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Leiocephalidae
Genus: Leiocephalus
Species:
L. schreibersii
Binomial name
Leiocephalus schreibersii
(Gravenhorst, 1837)
Synonyms[2][3]
  • Pristinotus schreibersii Gravenhorst, 1837
  • Steironotus schreibersii[4]
  • Liocephalus [sic] schreibersii[5]
  • Leiocephalus schreibersi [sic][6]

Taxonomy

Etymology

The specific name, schreibersi, is in honor of Austrian naturalist Carl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers.[7]

Subspecies

Including the nominotypical subspecies, two subspecies are recognized as being valid.[2]

  • Leiocephalus schreibersii nesomorus Schwartz, 1968
  • Leiocephalus schreibersii schreibersii (Gravenhorst, 1838)

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

Distribution and habitat

L. schreibersii is indigenous to the main island of Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti), and Île de la Tortue. It is also found in Florida as an introduced species.[2] The preferred natural habitat of L. schreibersii is shrubland at altitudes from sea level to 500 m (1,600 ft).[1]

Life cycle and behavior

L. schreibersii is oviparous.[2]

L. schreibersii is active during the day. It feeds mainly on insects.

References
  1. Powell R; Hedges SB; Mayer GC (2009). "Leiocephalus schreibersii ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2009. Retrieved 2015-02-21.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Species Leiocephalus schreibersii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  3. 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 schreibersi [sic]", p. 138).
  4. Fitzinger, 1843
  5. Cope, 1868
  6. Schwartz, 1968
  7. 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. (Leiocephalus schreibersii, p. 238).

Further reading
  • Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume II. Iguanidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 497 pp. + Plates I-XXIV. ("Liocephalus [sic] schreibersii ", pp. 162–163).
  • Gravenhorst JLC (1837). "Beiträge zur genaueren Kenntniss einiger Eidechsengattungen ". Verhandlungen der Kaiserlichen Leopoldinisch-Carolinischen Akademie der Naturforscher / Nova Acta Physico-Medica Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae Naturae Curiosorum 18: 712-784. (Pristonotus schreibersii, new species, pp. 739–742 + Plate LIV, figures 15, 16). (in German).
  • Schwartz A (1968). "The Leiocephalus (Lacertilia, Iguanidae) of Hispaniola. III. Leiocephalus screibersi [sic], L. semilineatus, and L. pratensis ". Journal of Herpetology 1 (1-4): 39-63. (Leiocephalus schreibersi [sic] nesomorus, new subspecies, p. 47).


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