The Navassa curly-tailed lizard or Navassa curlytail lizard (''Leiocephalus eremitus'') is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of Squamata, squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbae ...
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
from the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...
of
curly-tailed lizard (
Leiocephalidae). It is known only from the
holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...
, a female specimen from which it was
described in 1868. A possible second specimen which was collected by
Rollo Beck in 1917 was instead identified as a
Tiburon curly-tailed lizard (''Leiocephalus melanochlorus'') by
herpetologist
Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...
Richard Thomas in 1966.
Geographic range
''Leiocephalus eremitus'' was
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to
Navassa Island
Navassa Island (; ht, Lanavaz; french: l'île de la Navasse, sometimes ) is a small uninhabited island in the Caribbean Sea. Located northeast of Jamaica, south of Cuba, and west of Jérémie on the Tiburon Peninsula of Haiti, it is subject t ...
.
[
]
Description
The size of the holotype is given as snout–vent length
Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the most c ...
(SVL). The head and ventral scales
In snakes, the ventral scales or gastrosteges are the enlarged and transversely elongated scales that extend down the underside of the body from the neck to the anal scale. When counting them, the first is the anteriormost ventral scale that cont ...
are smooth. The dorsal scales
In snakes, the dorsal scales are the longitudinal series of plates that encircle the body, but do not include the ventral scales. Campbell JA, Lamar WW (2004). ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publis ...
are larger than the scales on the flanks and the ventral scales. The dorsum is dark gray with nine dark transverse bars. The tail is pale with transverse bars on the basal half and uniformly dark gray to black on the posterior half. Throat, breast, belly and the extremities are brown with pale-tipped scales.
Behavior and habitat
Navassa has xeric
Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this h ...
forest vegetation, but nothing specific is known about biology of this species. The reason for its extinction is also unknown, but predation by cats is a possible reason.[
]
References
* Schwartz, A., and R.W. Henderson. 1991. ''Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies: Descriptions, Distributions, and Natural History''. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. .
* Powell, R. 1999. Herpetology of Navassa Island, West Indies. ''Caribbean J. Sci.'' 35 (1-2): 1-13
PDF fulltext
Further reading
* Boulenger, G.A. 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'' ic''eremitus'', p. 165.)
* Cope, E.D. 1868. An Examination of the REPTILIA and BATRACHIA obtained by the Orton Expedition to Equador icand the Upper Amazon, with notes on other Species. ''Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia'' 20: 96-140. (''Liocephalus'' ic''eremitus, sp.nov.'', p. 122.)
* Schwartz, A., and R. Thomas. 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
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as CMNH) is a natural history museum in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Pittsburgh-based industrialist Andrew Carnegie in 1896.
Housing some 22 million ...
. 216 pp. (''Leiocephalus eremitus'', p. 129.)
*Thomas, R. 1966. A reassessment of the herpetofauna of Navassa Island. ''J. Ohio Herpetol. Soc.'' 5: 73-89. (''Leiocephalus eremitus'', p. 80.)
External links
Photograph of the holotype
{{Taxonbar, from=Q310820
Leiocephalus
Reptile extinctions since 1500
Extinct reptiles
Endemic fauna of Navassa Island
Species known from a single specimen
Extinct animals of Haiti
Extinct animals of the United States
Reptiles described in 1868
Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot