Saint Lucia whiptail

The Saint Lucia whiptail (Cnemidophorus vanzoi), also known commonly as the Maria Islands whiptail, the Saint Lucian whiptail, and Vanzo's whiptail, is a species of lizard in the family Teiidae. The species is indigenous to the Caribbean.

Saint Lucia whiptail
St. Lucia whiptail in captivity
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Teiidae
Genus: Cnemidophorus
Species:
C. vanzoi
Binomial name
Cnemidophorus vanzoi
Synonyms[2][3]
  • Ameiva vanzoi
    Baskin & E.E. Williams, 1966
  • Cnemidophorus vanzoi
    — Presch, 1971

Geographic range

C. vanzoi is endemic to Saint Lucia, where it has been extirpated from the main island and is now only native to the small islets of Maria Major and Maria Minor, with fewer than 1,000 individuals estimated. A third population has been established on nearby Praslin Island through translocation.

Habitat

The preferred natural habitats of C. vanzoi are forest and shrubland.[1]

Reproduction

C. vanzoi is oviparous.[3]

Etymology

The specific name, vanzoi, is in honor of Brazilian herpetologist Paulo Vanzolini.[4]

References
  1. Daltry JC (2016). "Cnemidophorus vanzoi (errata version published in 2017)". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T4997A115071448. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T4997A71739552.en. Downloaded on 26 September 2020.
  2. 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. (Cnemidophorus vanzoi, pp. 110-111).
  3. Species Cnemidophorus vanzoi at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  4. 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. (Cnemidophorus vanzoi, p. 273).

Further reading
  • Baskin JN, Williams EE (1966). "The Lesser Antillean Ameiva (Sauria: Teiidae). Reevaluation, zoogeography, and the effects of predation". Studies on the Fauna of Curaçao and Other Caribbean Islands 23 (89): 144–176. (Ameiva vanzoi, new species, p. 146).
  • Funk, Stephan M.; Fa, John E. (2006). "Phylogeography of the endemic St. Lucia whiptail lizard Cnemidophorus vanzoi: Conservation genetics at the species boundary". Conservation Genetics 7: 651–663.
  • Malhotra, Anita; Thorpe, Roger S. (1999). Reptiles & Amphibians of the Eastern Caribbean. London: Macmillan Education Ltd. ISBN 0-333-69141-5 (Cnemidophorus vanzoi, pp. 94–95).
  • Powell, Robert; Henderson, Robert W. (2005). "Conservation Status of Lesser Antillean Reptiles". Iguana 12 (2): 63–77.
  • Presch W (1971). "Tongue structure of the teiid lizard genera Ameiva and Cnemidophorus with a reallocation of Ameiva vanzoi ". Journal of Herpetology 5 (3/4): 183–185. (Cnemidophorus vanzoi, new combination, p. 184).



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