Kentropyx borckiana

Kentropyx borckiana, commonly known as the Guyana kentropyx, is a species of lizard in the family Teiidae. The species is endemic to northeastern South America.

Kentropyx borckiana
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Teiidae
Genus: Kentropyx
Species:
K. borckiana
Binomial name
Kentropyx borckiana
(W. Peters, 1869)
Synonyms[2]
  • Centropyx borckiana
    W. Peters, 1869
  • Centropyx copii
    Garman, 1887
  • Gastropholis mertensi
    de Grijs, 1926
  • Kentropyx copei
    — Grant, 1959
  • Kentropyx borckianus
    — Hoogmoed, 1973
  • Kentropyx borckiana
    — Schwartz & Henderson, 1991

Geographic range

Kentropyx borckiana is found in Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, and on the Caribbean island of Barbados.

Parthenogenesis

K. borckiana is apparently a rare unisexual clone that reproduces through parthenogenesis, in that only 100 female museum specimens are known to exist and no male specimens. It is believed to have arisen from hybridization between Kentropyx calcarata and Kentropyx striata.

Etymology

The specific name, borckiana, is in honor of Johann Graf von Borcke (1781-1862), a major in the Prussian Army who fought in the Napoleonic Wars.[2] Borcke presented a number of specimens to the Berlin Museum.[2]

Description

Kentropyx borckiana grows up to 100 mm (3.9 in) snout-to-vent. Its head and neck are greenish, with white underneath. Its sides are brown, and its underbody is pinkish. Its dorsal surface is gray to pinkish-brown, with light lateral stripes bordered with dark bands.

Similar species

A population of lizards on Trinidad was originally thought to be K. borckiana, but has since been identified as another species.

References
  1. Hoogmoed, M., Ouboter, P. & Powell, R. 2016. Kentropyx borckiana. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T44579684A44579692. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T44579684A44579692.en. Downloaded on 01 July 2019.
  2. "Kentropyx borckiana ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading
  • Cole, Charles J.; Dessauer, Herbert C.; Townsend, Carol R.; Arnold, Margaret G. (1995). "Kentropyx borckiana (Squamata, Teiidae): a unisexual lizard of hybrid origin in the Guiana region, South America". American Museum Novitates (3145): 1-23.
  • Malhotra, Anita; Thorpe, Roger S. (1999). Reptiles & Amphibians of the Eastern Caribbean. London: Macmillan Education Ltd. pp. 97–98. ISBN 0-333-69141-5.
  • Peters W (1869). "Eine Mittheilung über neue Gattungen und Arten von Eidechsen ". Monatsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1869: 57–66. (Centropyx borckiana, new species, p. 4). (in German).
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