''Abronia vasconcelosii'', sometimes known as Bocourt's arboreal alligator lizard, is a species of

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 ...

in the family

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 ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to the plateau of the

Guatemalan Highlands The Guatemalan Highlands is an upland region in southern Guatemala which lies between the Sierra Madre de Chiapas to the south and the Petén lowlands to the north. Geographic description The Highlands lie between 6360 ft and 13780 ft and are ...

, where it occurs in lower montane moist forest and

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, Montane forest, montane, Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist forest characteri ...

habitat at elevations around

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. Abronia vasconcelosii exhibits complex aggressive behavior patterns, including approaches, head flexing, and body arching, particularly during male-male encounters where aggression is more pronounced, leading to biting behaviors directed at the tail.

References

Formanowicz, D. R., Brodie, E. D., & Campbell, J. A. (1990). Intraspecific Aggression in Abronia vasconcelosii (Sauria, Anguidae), a Tropical, Arboreal Lizard. Biotropica, 22(4), 391–396. https://doi.org/10.2307/2388556 vasconcelosii Reptiles of Guatemala Endemic fauna of Guatemala Sierra Madre de Chiapas Reptiles described in 1872 Taxa named by Marie Firmin Bocourt {{Anguidae-stub