Ameiva atrigularis GARMAN, 1887
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Ameiva atrigularis
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| Higher Taxa | Teiidae, Teiinae, Gymnophthalmoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Venezuelan Ameiva, Giant Ameiva, Amazon Racerunner S: Mato, azulejo |
| Synonym | Ameiva surinamensis var. atrigularis GARMAN 1887: 2 Ameiva atrigularis — BARBOUR & NOBLE 1915: 460 Ameiva ameiva melanocephala BARBOUR & NOBLE 1915: 465 Ameiva atrigularis — BURT & BURT 1931: 307 Ameiva ameiva ameiva — MARCUZZI 1950: 101 (part.) Ameiva ameiva — ROZE 1964: 237 Ameiva ameiva melahocephala — DONOSO-BARROS (1968: 115; part; in error) Ameiva ameiva melanocephala — PETERS & DONOSO-BARROS 1970: 19 Ameiva ameiva atrigularis — TUCK & HARDY 1973: 241 Ameiva ameiva — MURPHY 1997: 152 Ameiva ameiva — GORZULA & SENARIS 1999: 148 (part.) Ameiva ameiva — RIVAS et al. (2005: 351) Ameiva ameiva — UGUETO & RIVAS 2010: 187 Ameiva atrigularis — UGUETO & HARVEY 2011: 137 |
| Distribution | Venezuela (Distrito Capital, Vargas, Miranda, Sucre, Peninsula de Paria, Isla de Margarita), Trinidad Type locality: Trinidad Type locality: Cumanacoa, Venezuela [melanocephala] |
| Reproduction | oviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) |
| Types | Lectotype: MCZ 186018, male; designated by UGUETO & HARVEY 2011; paralectotypes: ANSP 19596, USNM 120777, NMW Holotype: MCZ 9993, male [melanocephala] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A medium-sized Ameiva distinguished from all congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) maximum SVL in males 186 mm; (2) dorsal head scales smooth; (3) frontal single; (4) frontoparietal and parietal plates in contact with interparietals; (5) 17–47 (both sides) scales, usually in single row, between supraoculars and supraciliaries; (6) 10–18 occipitals, usually larger than first dorsal row; (7) 20–40 anterior gulars; (8) middle anterior gulars polygonal or rounded and usually small or moderately enlarged; (9) posterior gulars usually small, less often with medial patch of moderately enlarged posterior gulars; (10) 13–23 posterior gulars between antegular and gular fold; (11) enlarged mesoptychial scales subequal or larger than largest gulars; (12) postbrachials moderately to distinctly enlarged; (13) 263–361 scales between occiput and rump; (14) 134–179 dorsal scales across midbody; (15) ventrals in 29–34 transverse and 10 longitudinal rows; (16) adult male coloration in life uniformly brown in northeastern Venezuela, Isla de Margarita, and Trinidad or bicolored (anteriorly brown and posteriorly green) in north-central Venezuela, usually with minute black dorsal reticulations and pale blue or whitish lateral ocelli; (17) throat in adults black or dark gray; (18) no vertebral light stripe and only rarely ocelli present on dorsum; (19) juveniles often with faded dorsal paired black spots, indistinct pale dorsolateral line bordering upper margin of broad black lateral stripe distinct in front of arm; (20) associated with forests or forest clearings [UGUETO & HARVEY 2011: 139]. Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 84 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Synonymy after UGUETO & HARVEY 2011. Amiva [sic] surinamensis tobaganus COPE 1879: 276 used to be treated as a synonym of A. atrigularis but has been considered as a valid species by more recent authors. Distribution: Esqueda et al. (2001) reported a specimen of A. a. melanocephala (= A. atrigularis) from Sierra de Perijá, Zulia. However, this record was based on a misidentified specimen of A. praesignis. Esqueda et al. (2001) reported another A. a. melanocephala from Puerto Cabello, Carabobo State, which needs to be confirmed. Diet: a large percentage of the diet of this species (10-30%) consists of ants (Lucas et al. 2023). |
| Etymology | Named after Latin ater, black, dark; dark-colored and Latin gularis, related to throat, neck, gullet. [“...The throat and chin are black on all except the young...”]. (from Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., May 2024) |
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