''Caribicus darlingtoni'', also known commonly as Darlington's galliwasp and the Hispaniolan striped galliwasp, is a

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), ...

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 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 ...

Diploglossidae Diploglossidae is a family of anguimorph lizards native to the Americas, with most genera being endemic to Hispaniola. Most members of this family (aside from the legless genus '' Ophiodes'') are known as galliwasps. They were formerly considere ...

. www.reptile-database.org. The species 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

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

on the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

Taxonomy

''C. darlingtoni'' was formerly classified in the

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 ...

Celestus ''Celestus'' is a genus of diploglossid lizards mostly endemic to Jamaica (aside from a single species endemic to Haiti) and containing about 11 species, though three of these may be extinct. They are commonly known as galliwasps although the o ...

'', but was moved to the genus ''

Caribicus ''Caribicus'' is a genus of diploglossid lizards endemic to the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean, in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Conservation All three species are considered threatened on the IUCN Red List, and one is possibly ...

'' in 2021.

Etymology

The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

, ''darlingtoni'', is in honor of American entomologist Philip Jackson Darlington Jr. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Celestus darlingtoni'', p. 65).

Habitat

The preferred natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

of ''C. darlingtoni'' is

Hispaniolan pine forests The Hispaniolan pine forests are a subtropical coniferous forest ecoregion found on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, which is shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The ecoregion covers , or about 15% of the island. It lies at elevations ...

, at altitudes of .

Description

Males of ''C. darlingtoni'' may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of . Females are about one fifth smaller, only attaining SVL.

Reproduction

''C. darlingtoni'' is

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...

Taxonomy

Etymology

Habitat

Description

Reproduction

References

Further reading