Xantusia Gilberti
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''Xantusia gilberti'', also known commonly as the Baja California night lizard and ''la nocturna de Baja California'' in Mexican Spanish, 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), ...
of small
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 ...
Xantusiidae. The species is native to the southern Baja California Peninsula of
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 ...
.


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 ...
, ''gilberti'', is in honor of American ichthyologist
Charles Henry Gilbert Charles Henry Gilbert (December 5, 1859 in Rockford, Illinois – April 20, 1928 in Palo Alto, California) was a pioneer ichthyologist and Fisheries science, fishery biologist of particular significance to natural history of the western Unit ...
.


Description

The
holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...
of ''X. gilberti'' has a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of about , and a tail length about equal to SVL. The eye is very small, with a vertical pupil. There are nine femoral pores on one leg and eight on the other. Van Denburgh (1895).


Reproduction

''X. gilberti'' is
viviparous In animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the mother, with the maternal circulation providing for the metabolic needs of the embryo's development, until the mother gives birth to a fully or partially developed juve ...
.


References


Further reading

* Savage JM (1952). "Studies on the Lizard Family Xantusiidae I. The Systematic Status of the Baja California Night Lizards Allied to ''Xantusia vigilis'', with the Description of a New Subspecies". ''American Midland Naturalist'' 48 (2): 467–479. (''Xantusia vigilis gilberti'', new taxonomic status). * Sinclair EA, Bezy RL, Bolles K, Camarillo JL, Crandall KA, Sites JW (2004). "Testing Species Boundaries in an Ancient Species Complex with Deep Phylogeographic History: Genus ''Xantusia'' (Squamata: Xantusiidae)". ''American Naturalist'' 164 (3): 396–414. (''Xantusia gilberti)''. * Van Denburgh J (1895). "A Review of the Herpetology of Lower California. Part I — Reptiles". ''Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Second Series'' 5: 77–163 + Plates IV–XIV. (''Xantusia gilberti'', new species, pp. 121–122 + Plate XI, figures A–F). Xantusia Endemic reptiles of Mexico Endemic fauna of the Baja California Peninsula Reptiles described in 1895 Taxa named by John Van Denburgh {{lizard-stub