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Kentropyx borckiana (PETERS, 1869)

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Higher TaxaTeiidae, Teiinae, Gymnophthalmoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Guyana Whiptail, Guyana Kentropyx 
SynonymCentropyx Borckiana PETERS 1869: 64
Centropyx Copii GARMAN 1887
Gastropholis mertensi DE GRIJS 1926 (fide GALLAGHER & DIXON 1980)
Centropyx copei — BARBOUR 1930
Kentropyx copei — GRANT 1959
Kentropyx borckianus — HOOGMOED 1973
Kentropyx borckiana — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 421
Kentropyx borckianus — BAUER et al. 1995: 66
Kentropyx borckiana — HARVEY et al. 2012 
DistributionLesser Antilles: Barbados;

NE South America: N Guyana, N French Guiana, N Suriname.

copei: Barbados (fide GRANT 1959)

Type locality: “Guiana”  
Reproductionoviparous. More than 100 females and yet no males of Kentropyx borckiana are known from northern South America and Barbados. K. borckiana from Guyana seems to represent a unisexual clone that originated from one or more parthenogenetic F-1 hybrids between Kentropyx calcarata x Kentropyx striata, the other two species of this genus known previously from the Guiana Region. 
TypesLectotype: ZMB 897 (designated by HOOGMOED 1973)
Holotype: USNM 12207 (holotype status not clear) [Centropyx copii] 
Diagnosis 
CommentPETERS (1869) ascribes “C. Borckiana” to Merrem 1809 who may have described the species in the “Ann. d. Wetterauischen Gesellschaft 1809”. See also Myers et al. 2011. Centropyx copii Garman, 1887 was described by Cope (1861) as an example of C. intermedius Schlegel, fide G.R. Zug, January 1969 (fide USNM catalog).

Distribution: Has been erroneously reported from Trinidad (BOOS & QUESNEL 1971). 
EtymologyNamed after Johann Graf von Borcke (1781-1862) who joined the Prussian Army (1797), served temporarily in the Westphalian Army in Spain and in Russia, before re-joining the Prussian army. He fought at both Ligny and Waterloo. He retired from the army (1832). Merrem reported that Major von Borcke had presented a number of specimens to the Berlin Museum and that they had come originally from the sale of Albertus Seba’s collection. Peters, who re-described the animal (1869), remarked that unfortunately the original specimen of the Borcke collection got lost. 
References
  • Barbour, Thomas 1930. Some faunistic changes in the Lesser Antilles. Proc. New England Zool. Club 11: 73-85
  • Bauer, A.M.; Günther,R. & Klipfel,M. 1995. The herpetological contributions of Wilhelm C.H. Peters (1815-1883). SSAR Facsimile Reprints in Herpetology, 714 pp.
  • Bauer, Aaron M.;Witwer, Mark 1995. The herpetofauna of Nottingham park and the Serpentine Barrens of Chester County, Pennsylvania. Bull. Chicago Herp. Soc. 30 (1): 3-9 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Boos, H.E.A., & Quesnel, V. 1971. Notes on Kentropyx striatus in Trinidad, West Indies. Herpetologica 27 (4); 477-481. - get paper here
  • Cole J C. Dessauer H C. Townsend C R. Arnold M G. 1995. Kentropyx borckiana (Squamata: Teiidae): A unisexual lizard of hybrid origin in the Guiana Region, South America. American Museum Novitates (3145): 1-23. - get paper here
  • Cole, Charles J.; Carol R. Townsend, Robert P. Reynolds, Ross D. MacCulloch, and Amy Lathrop 2013. Amphibians and reptiles of Guyana, South America: illustrated keys, annotated species accounts, and a biogeographic synopsis. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 125 (4): 317-578; plates: 580-620 - get paper here
  • de Grijs,P. 1926. Mitt. Zool. Staatinst. Hamburg 42: 37
  • Gallagher D S & Dixon J R. 1992. Taxonomic revision of the South American lizard genus Kentropyx Spix (Sauria, Teiidae). Boll. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino 10 (1): 125-171
  • Garman, S. 1887. On the West Indian Teiids in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Bull. Essex Inst. 19: 1-12. - get paper here
  • Grant, C. 1959. Herpetology of Barbados, B.W.I. Herpetologica 15 (2): 97-101 - get paper here
  • HARVEY, MICHAEL B.; GABRIEL N. UGUETO & RONALD L. GUTBERLET, Jr. 2012. Review of Teiid Morphology with a Revised Taxonomy and Phylogeny of the Teiidae (Lepidosauria: Squamata). Zootaxa 3459: 1–156 - get paper here
  • Hoogmoed, M. S. 1973. Notes on the herpetofauna of Surinam. IV. The lizards and amphisbaenians of Surinam. Dr. W. Junk, The Hague, 419 pp. - get paper here
  • Hoogmoed, M.S., & Lescure, J. 1975. An annotated checklist of the lizards of French Guiana, mainly based on two recent collections. Zoologische Mededelingen 49(13): 141-172. - get paper here
  • Myers, Charles W.; Miguel Trefaut Rodrigues, and Paulo E. Vanzolini 2011. Status of Early 19th-Century Names Authored in Parallel by Wied and Schinz for South American Reptiles and Amphibians, with Designations of Three Nomina Protecta. American Museum Novitates (3714): 1-21. - get paper here
  • Peters, WILHELM C. H. 1869. Eine Mittheilung über neue Gattungen und Arten von Eidechsen. Monatsber. Königl. Preuss. Akad. Wissensch. Berlin, 1869: 57-66 - get paper here
  • REEDER, T.W.; CHARLES J. COLE AND HERBERT C. DESSAUER 2002. Phylogenetic Relationships of Whiptail Lizards of the Genus Cnemidophorus (Squamata: Teiidae): A Test of Monophyly, Reevaluation of Karyotypic Evolution, and Review of Hybrid Origins. American Museum Novitates 3365: 1-64 - get paper here
  • Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 720 pp.
  • Werneck, F.P., Giugliano, L.G., Collevatti, R.G. & Colli, G.R. 2009. Phylogeny, biogeography and evolution of clutch size in South American lizards of the genus Kentropyx (Squamata: Teiidae). Molecular Ecology 18: 262-278 - get paper here
 
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