''Abronia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

lizard Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...

s, known colloquially as alligator lizards, in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Anguidae Anguidae refers to a large and diverse family of lizards native to the Northern Hemisphere. It contains 9 genera and 89 extant species. Common characteristics of this group include a reduced supratemporal arch, striations on the medial faces of t ...

that is native to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. The majority of the

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

are restricted to southern Mexico and

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

, but members of the genus occur as far south as

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

. They inhabit forests and woodlands, mostly in highlands, and some species are often associated with

bromeliad The Bromeliaceae (the bromeliads) are a Family (biology), family of monocot flowering plants of about 80 genera and 3700 known species, native mainly to the Tropics, tropical Americas, with several species found in the American subtropics and on ...

s. They are typically

arboreal Arboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some animals may scale trees only occasionally (scansorial), but others are exclusively arboreal. The hab ...

, but there are also

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on o ...

''Abronia'' species. Many species are considered

threatened A threatened species is any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which is vulnerable to extinction in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensatio ...

due to

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

, killing by locals who mistakenly believe they are venomous, or collection for the captive reptile trade (they are listed on

CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

, which restricts international trade). They feed on small animal prey, such as insects, and the females give birth to live young (rather than lay eggs). These medium-sized to fairly large lizards (maximum length generally up to about ) possess intriguing physical traits such as long

prehensile tail A prehensile tail is the tail of an animal that has Adaptation (biology), adapted to grasp or hold objects. Fully Prehensility, prehensile tails can be used to hold and manipulate objects, and in particular to aid arboreal creatures in finding and ...

s that can be regrown if lost, keeled body

scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

, and a helmet-like structure on the top of the head, which in some species, for example '' A. lythrochila'', has spikes towards the rear. Their colors also vary significantly depending on species, including green, bluish-green, brown, yellowish, whitish, gray and black, and some have contrasting mottled or banded patterns.

Species

These species are recognized as being valid:''Abronia''
The Reptile Database. Consulted: 2012-04-06. *'' Abronia antauges'' – Mount Orizaba alligator lizard *'' Abronia anzuetoi'' – Anzueto's arboreal alligator lizard *''

Abronia aurita Cope's arboreal alligator lizard (''Abronia aurita'') is a species of lizard found in two isolated locations in Guatemala, one in the Alta Verapaz Department and one in the Jalapa Department. These lizard are found only in high altitudes of 2,00 ...

'' – Cope's arboreal alligator lizard *''

Abronia bogerti ''Abronia bogerti'', known by the common name Bogert's arboreal alligator lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Anguidae. The species is endemic to Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. ...

'' – Bogert's arboreal alligator lizard *'' Abronia campbelli'' – Campbell's alligator lizard *'' Abronia chiszari'' – Chiszar's arboreal alligator lizard *'' Abronia cuchumatanus'' – Cuchumatanes alligator lizard *'' Abronia cuetzpali'' *'' Abronia cunemica'' – Coapilla arboreal alligator lizard. *'' Abronia deppii'' – Deppe's arboreal alligator lizard *''

Abronia fimbriata ''Abronia fimbriata'' is a species of lizard endemic to the mountains of east-central Guatemala, including Sierra de Xucaneb, Sierra de las Minas, Sierra de Chuacús and Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, and is found in the cloud forests at elevation ...

'' *''

Abronia frosti Frost's arboreal alligator lizard (''Abronia frosti)'' is a species of lizard in the Family (biology), family Anguidae. The species is Endemism, endemic to Guatemala in Central America. Etymology The Specific name (zoology), specific name, ''fros ...

'' – Frost's arboreal alligator lizard *'' Abronia fuscolabialis'' – Mount Zempoaltepec arboreal alligator lizard *'' Abronia gadovii'' – Gadow's alligator lizard *''

Abronia gaiophantasma The brilliant arboreal alligator lizard (''Abronia gaiophantasma'') is a species of lizard Endemism, endemic to Guatemala. This species is restricted to the mountains of east-central Guatemala, from the Sierra de las Minas east to the Chilascó ...

'' – brilliant arboreal alligator lizard *'' Abronia graminea'' – Mexican alligator lizard *''

Abronia juarezi ''Abronia juarezi'', also known Common name, commonly as the Sierra Juarez alligator lizard and ''el escorpión de Sierra de Juárez'' in Mexican Spanish, is a species of lizard in the Family (biology), family Anguidae. The species is Endemism, en ...

'' – Sierra Juarez alligator lizard *'' Abronia leurolepis'' – smoothback arboreal alligator lizard *''

Abronia lythrochila ''Abronia lythrochila'', also known Common name, commonly as the red-lipped arboreal alligator lizard and ''escorpión arboricola de labios rojos'' in Mexican Spanish, is a species of lizard in the Family (biology), family Anguidae. The species ...

'' – red-lipped arboreal alligator lizard *'' Abronia martindelcampoi'' – Martín del Campo's arboreal alligator lizard *''

Abronia matudai ''Abronia matudai'', Matuda's arboreal alligator lizard, is a species of endangered arboreal alligator lizard in the family Anguidae. The species, which was originally described in 1946 by Norman Hartweg and Joseph Tihen, is endemic to Central A ...

'' – Matuda's arboreal alligator lizard *'' Abronia meledona'' *'' Abronia mitchelli'' – Mitchell's arboreal alligator lizard *''

Abronia mixteca ''Abronia mixteca '', the Mixtecan arboreal alligator lizard, is a vulnerable species of arboreal alligator lizards described in 1967 by Charles Mitchill Bogert and Ann Porter. It is endemic to the Guerrero and Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the ...

'' – Mixtecan arboreal alligator lizard *'' Abronia montecristoi'' – Monte Cristo arboreal alligator lizard *'' Abronia monticola'' – montane alligator lizard *'' Abronia moreletii'' – Morelet's alligator lizard *'' Abronia morenica'' (''Abronia morenica'', new species). – Sierra Morena arboreal alligator lizard *''

Abronia oaxacae ''Abronia oaxacae'', the Oaxacan arboreal alligator lizard, is a vulnerable species of arboreal alligator lizard described in 1885 by Albert C. L. G. Günther. It is endemic to Oaxaca, Mexico. Distribution and habitat ''Abronia oaxacae'' is f ...

'' – Oaxacan arboreal alligator lizard *'' Abronia ochoterenai'' – Ochoterena's arboreal alligator lizard, Northern Chiapas arboreal alligator lizard, *'' Abronia ornelasi'' – Ornelas's arboreal alligator lizard, Cerro Baul alligator lizard *'' Abronia ramirezi'' – Ramirez's alligator lizard *''

Abronia reidi ''Abronia reidi'', Reid's arboreal alligator lizard, is a species of arboreal alligator lizard in the family Anguidae. The species is native to Mexico. It was described as a species new to science in 1961 by John E. Werler and Frederick A. Shan ...

'' – Reid's arboreal alligator lizard *'' Abronia salvadorensis'' – Salvador arboreal alligator lizard *'' Abronia smithi'' – Smith's arboreal alligator lizard *'' Abronia taeniata'' – banded arboreal alligator lizard, bromeliad arboreal alligator lizard *'' Abronia vasconcelosii'' – Bocourt's arboreal alligator lizard *''

Abronia viridiflava The dwarf alligator lizard (''Abronia viridiflava''), is a species of lizard in the Family (biology), family Anguidae. The species is Endemism, endemic to Mexico.. www.reptile-database.org. References

Abronia Reptiles described in 1873 En ...

'' – dwarf alligator lizard *'' Abronia zongolica '' García-Vázquez, Uri Omar; Clause, Adam G.; Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, Jorge; Cazares-Hernández, Erasmo; de la Torre-Loranca, Miguel Ángel (2022)
"A New Species of ''Abronia'' (Squamata: Anguidae) from the Sierra de Zongolica of Veracruz, Mexico"
''Ichthyology & Herpetology.'' 110 (1): 33-49. (''Abronia zongolica'', new species).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abronia (Animal) Abronia Lizard genera Lizards of Central America Taxa named by John Edward Gray Reptiles described in 1838