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Plica plica (LINNAEUS, 1758)

IUCN Red List - Plica plica - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaTropiduridae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Collared Treerunner, Tree Runner
G: Stelzenläuferleguan 
SynonymLacerta Plica LINNAEUS 1758: 208
Iguana chalcidica LAURENTI 1768: 48 (nomen dubium)
Sellio plica — LATREILLE 1801
Agama plica — DAUDIN 1802
Lophyrus panthera SPIX 1825: 11
Ophryessa panthera — BOIE 1825
Ecphymotes plica — FITZINGER 1826
Uraniscodon (Pneustes) plica — KAUP 1827
Lophyrus (Ophreyesa) agamoides GRAY 1827: 208
Hypsibatus plica — WAGLER 1830
Ophyessa [sic] (Plica) plica — GRAY 1831: 41
Hypselophus plica — WIEGMANN 1835
Hypsibatus agamoides — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1837: 254
Hypsibatus punctatus DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1837: 258
Hypselopus [sic] plica — GRAVENHORST 1838: 771
Ptychosaurus (Ptychosaurus) punctatus — FITZINGER 1843
Ptychosaurus (Ptychopleura) plica — FITZINGER 1843
Plica punctata — GRAY 1845
Hypsibatus agamoides — DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 268
Hypsibatus punctatus — DUMÉRIL, BIBRON & DUMÉRIL 1854: 268
Uraniscodon plica — BOULENGER 1885: 180
Plica plica — BURT & BURT 1931: 282
Plica plica — PETERS et al. 1970: 230
Tropidurus plica — FROST 1992
Tropidurus plica — DIRKSEN & DE LA RIVA 1999
Plica plica — GORZULA & SEÑARIS 1999
Tropidurus plica — HARVEY & GUTBERLET 2000
Plica plica — FROST et al. 2001
Tropidurus plica — LEHR 2002: 203
Tropidurus plica — WHITHWORTH & BEIRNE 2011
Plica plica — MURPHY & JOWERS 2013 
DistributionNE Venezuela (Miranda etc.), Guyana, Suriname, Ecuador, Peru

Type locality: “Indiis”, restricted to the vicinity of Paramaribo, Suriname by ETHERIDGE 1970. Further restricted to the confluence of the Cottica River and Perica Creek, Suriname by HOOGMOED 1973.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: NRM (NHRM) 112
Holotype: MNHN 2387 [Hypsibatus punctatus]
Holotype: ZSM, now lost fide Franzen & Glaw 2007 [Lophyrus panthera SPIX 1825] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Following Etheridge (1970, p. 242), Frost et al. (2001, p. 360), and Carvalho et al. (202X). (1) head not relatively small, body and tail not compressed latero-laterally; (2) body not extremely flattened dorso-ventrally; (3) skull highly elevated at the level of the orbits in P. umbra, not in other species; (4) premaxilla broad; (5) nutritive foramina of maxilla striking enlarged; (6) lingual process of dentary present, extending over lingual dentary process of coronoid; (7) angular strongly reduced; (8) medial centrale absent; (9) sternal fontanelle present; (10) circumorbitals distinct from other small supraorbital scales; (11) 5 to 7 subequal suboculars (no enlarged preocular); (12) poorly defined or absent postmental scale series; (13) strong antegular fold; (14) projecting tufts of elongate, spiny scales present on the neck; (15) dark-banded, reticulated, or dotted pattern on olive or dark dorsal background; (16) dorsals keeled and mucronate, ventrals smooth, sometimes shortly mucronate; (17) enlarged middorsal scale row forming a serrate dorsal crest; (18) black “flash” marks on pre-cloacal region and underneath thighs of males (except in P. umbra); (19) tail autotomic, terete, not heavily mucronate; (20) fourth finger longer than third; (21) lateral fringe not developed on both sides of fourth toes; (22) hemipenes attenuate, without apical disks; (23) rupicolous or arboreal (modified by O. Torres-Carvajal, pers. comm. 2021).


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CommentDistribution: restricted to the Guiana Shield after MURPHY & JOWERS have split up the species into 5 species. These authors do not list this species for French Guiana, Trinidad, Brazil (Para, Amapa, Roroima, Amazonas, Acre, Rondonia, Mato Grosso), Bolivia (Pando), N Peru, Ecuador as other previous authors. Ribeiro-Júnior 2015 shows a map but does not follow MURPHY & JOWERS.

Type species: Lacerta Plica LINNAEUS 1758: 208 is the type species of the genus Plica GRAY in CUVIER 1831.

Diet: a large percentage of the diet of this species (10-100%) consists of ants (Lucas et al. 2023).

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after the genus.

The genus was named after Latin plica (= fold), a reference to "collo lateribus verrucoso subtus plicato” fide Linnaeus 1758 (= neck folded under the warty sides) Gray in Cuvier 1831:40) (from Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., May 2024). 
References
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