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Madrean Alligator Lizard (Elgaria kingii)

Source: Wikipedia

Madrean alligator lizard
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Anguidae
Genus: Elgaria
Species:
E. kingii
Binomial name
Elgaria kingii
Gray, 1838[2]
Synonyms[2]RDB

The Madrean alligator lizard (Elgaria kingii), also known commonly as King's alligator lizard and el lagarto de montaña in Mexican Spanish, is a species of lizard in the family Anguidae. The species is native to the southwestern United States and adjacent northwestern Mexico.

Etymology

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The specific name, kingii, is in honor of Phillip Parker King, an Australian-born Royal Navy officer who surveyed the coast of South America.[3]

Geographic range

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E. kingii is found from southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, United States, southward to Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit, southeastern Zacatecas, and southwestern Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Habitat

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E. kingii is found in a variety of habitats including desert, grassland, shrubland, and forest.[1]

Reproduction

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E. kingii is oviparous.[2]

Subspecies

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Three subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[2]

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Elgaria.

References

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  1. ^ a b Hammerson, G.A.; Vazquez Díaz, J.; Quintero Díaz, G.E. (2007). "Elgaria kingii ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2007: e.T63702A12706965. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T63702A12706965.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Species Elgaria kingii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org
  3. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Elgaria kingii, p. 141).

Further reading

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  • Baird SF, Girard C (1852). "Characteristics of some New Reptiles in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 6: 125–129. (Elgaria nobilis, new species, p. 129).
  • Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume II. ... Anguidæ .... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 497 pp. + Plates I–XXIV. (Gerrhonotus kingii, pp. 274–275).
  • Gray JE (1838). Catalogue of the Slender-tongued Saurians, with Descriptions of many new Genera and Species. Annals and Magazine of Natural History, First Series 1: 274–283, 388–394. (Elgaria kingii, new species, pp. 390–391).
  • Smith HM, Brodie ED Jr (1982). Reptiles of North America: A Guide to Field Identification. New York: Golden Press. 240 pp. ISBN 0-307-13666-3. ("Elgaria kingi [sic]", pp. 86–87).
  • Stebbins RC (2003). A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition. The Peterson Field Guide Series ®. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. xiii + 533 pp. ISBN 978-0-395-98272-3. (Elgaria kingii, pp. 334–335 + Plate 41 + Map 124).
  • Webb RG (1962). "A New Alligator Lizard (Genus Gerrhonotus) from Western México". Herpetologica 18 (2): 73–79. (Gerrhonotus kingi [sic] ferrugineus, new subspecies).