The Key tegu (''Echinosaura keyi'' ) is a
species of
lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of 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 Amphisbaenia alt ...
in the
family Gymnophthalmidae. The species is
endemic to
Ecuador.
[
]
Taxonomy
''Echinosaura keyi'' was formerly known as ''Teuchocercus keyi'' , and was the type species of the genus ''Teuchocercus'',[ Fritts TH, Smith HM (1969). "A New Teiid Lizard Genus from Western Ecuador". ''Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci.'' 72 (1): 54-59. (''Teuchocercus'', new genus; ''Teuchocercus keyi'', new species).] but the genus ''Teuchocercus'' is no longer recognized.[
]
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 ...
, ''keyi'', is in honor of American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
physician and amateur herpetologist George Key (1942-1999).[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Teuchocercus keyi'', p. 140).]
Geographic range
The Key tegu is only found in Ecuador with records from Esmeraldas and Pichincha.[
]
References
Further reading
*Torres-Carvajal, Omar; Lobos, Simón E.; Venegas, Pablo J.; Chávez, Germán; Aguirre-Peñafiel, Vanessa; Zurita, Daniel; Echevarría, Lourdes Y. (2016). "Phylogeny and biogeography of the most diverse clade of South American gymnophthalmid lizards (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae, Cercosaurinae)". ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 99: 63-75. (''Echinosaura keyi'', new combination).
{{Taxonbar, from=Q55279983
Reptiles of Ecuador
Endemic fauna of Ecuador
Reptiles described in 1969
Taxa named by Thomas H. Fritts
Taxa named by Hobart Muir Smith
Echinosaura