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Contomastix lacertoides (DUMÉRIL & BIBRON, 1839)

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Higher TaxaTeiidae, Teiinae, Gymnophthalmoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Bibron's Whiptail
Portuguese: Lagartixa-Listrada, Lagartixa-Verde, Tiú-da-Areia, Lagartinho-Listrado-da-Restinga 
SynonymCnemidophorus lacertoides DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 134
Cnemidophorus lacertinoides — GRAY 1845: 22 (in error for lacertoides)
Cnemidophorus grandensis COPE 1871: 158
Cnemidophorus lacertoides — BOULENGER 1886: 427
Ameiva lacertoides — BURT
Cnemidophorus lacertoides — GALLARDO 1966: 24
Cnemidophorus lacertoides — PETERS et al. 1970: 93
Cnemidophorus lacertoides — MASLIN & SECOY 1986
Cnemidophorus lacertoides — CEI 1993
Cnemidophorus lacertoides — DIRKSEN & DE LA RIVA 1999
Cnemidophorus charrua CABRERA & CARREIRA 2009
Contomastix charrua — HARVEY et al. 2012 (fide BORTEIRO et al. 2013)
Contomastix charrua — CARREIRA et al. 2012
Contomastix lacertoides — HARVEY et al. 2012
Cnemidophorus lacertoides — AVILA et al. 2013 
DistributionUruguay, S Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul), Argentina (Achiras, Córdoba; Entre Rios [HR 31: 52], Buenos Aires [HR 32: 275]), Bolivia (Cochabamba, Santa Cruz)

Type locality: Montevideo, Uruguay.

charrua: Uruguay (Rocha); Type locality: Uruguay: Departamento Rocha: Cabo Polonio (34º 24' 21" S; 53º 46' 57" W). Holotype. MNHN 03423. Adult male. February 3, 1977; F. Achaval, col.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: unlocated
Syntype: ANSP 9553; Brazil, Rio Grande [Cnemidophorus grandensis]
Holotype: MNHN 03423 (Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Montevideo, Uruguay), paratypes: MNHN 03422 and 03424; ZVC-R 1856 and 1865 [charrua] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (98 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy: Closely related to C. leachei. PETERS & DONOSO-BARROS (1970) listed leachi as synonym of lacertoides. Synonymy after CEI 1993. Cabrera et al. 2019 listed C. charrua as valid but considered it as “probably extinct”.

Group: founding member of the lacertoides group (Cei, 1993) that can be distinguished from the other groups of Cnemidophorus by their suborbital semicircles lacking granules, a tongue that is bilobed posteriorly (instead of basally as in other species) (see Cei, 1993), and 10 longitudinal rows of ventral scales (Dies et al., 2002, Cabrera and Carreira, 2009).

Diet: a large percentage of the diet of this species (50-80%) consists of ants (Lucas et al. 2023).

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin lacerta, a lizard + Greek -oides (-οειδής), suffix indicating likeness. (Esteban Lavilla, pers. comm., April 2024) 
References
  • AVILA, LUCIANO JAVIER; LORENA ELIZABETH MARTINEZ & MARIANA MORANDO 2013. Checklist of lizards and amphisbaenians of Argentina: an update. Zootaxa 3616 (3): 201–238 - get paper here
  • Borteiro, Claudio; FRANCISCO KOLENC, CARLOS PRIGIONI, MARIANA L. LYRA, DIEGO BALDO 2013. A lost species or the loss of stripes? The case of Contomastix lizards from Cabo Polonio, Uruguay, with observations on C. lacertoides (Duméril & Bibron) and Cnemidophorus grandensis Cope (Squamata, Teiidae). Zootaxa 3620 (2): 245–259 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1886. A synopsis of the reptiles and batrachians of the province Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (5) 18: 423-445 - get paper here
  • Burt, C. E. 1931. A study of the teiid lizards of the genus Cnemidophorus with special reference to their phylogenetic relationships. Bull. US Natl. Mus. 154: 286 pp. - get paper here
  • Cabrera, Mario R. & Carreira, S. 2009. A new, but probably extinct, species of Cnemidophorus (Squamata, Teiidae) from Uruguay. The Herpetological Journal 19: 97–105 - get paper here
  • Cabrera, Mario R.; Santiago Carreira, Diego O. Di Pietro & Paula C. Rivera 2019. A new species of Contomastix (Squamata, Teiidae) supported by total evidence, with remarks on diagnostic characters defining the genus. The Herpetological Journal 29 (1): 23-36 - get paper here
  • Carreira, S.; Brazeiro, A.; Camargo, A.; da Rosa, I.; Canavero, A. & Maneyro, M. 2012. DIVERSITY OF REPTILES OF URUGUAY: KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION GAPS. Bol. Soc. Zool. Uruguay (2a época) 21 (1-2): 9-29 - get paper here
  • Cavalcanti, Lucas B Q; Gabriel C Costa, Guarino R Colli, Eric R Pianka, Laurie J Vitt, Daniel O Mesquita 2023. Myrmecophagy in lizards: evolutionary and ecological implications. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2023;, zlad175, - get paper here
  • Cei J M. Martori R A. 1991. A New Species of Cnemidophorus of the lacertoides species group from the eastern Sierras de Cordoba, Central Argentina (Lacertilia, Teiidae). Boll. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino 9 (1): 33-38.
  • Cei J M. Scrocchi G. 1991. A poorly known and discussed species, Cnemidophorus leachei Peracca 1897, and general remarks on the genus Cnemidophorus in Argentina (Lacertilia, Teiidae). Boll. Mus. Reg. Sci. Nat. Torino 9 (1): 233-244.
  • Cei, J. M. 1993. Reptiles del noroeste, nordeste y este de la Argentina. Museo Regionale Sci. Naturale Torino, Monografie 14: 1-949
  • Cole, Charles J.;McCoy, Clarence J.;Achaval, Federico 1979. Karyotype of a South American teiid lizard, Cnemidophorus lacertoides. American Museum Novitates (2671): 1-5 - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1870. Seventh contribution to the herpetology of tropical America. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 11: 147-169 [1869] - get paper here
  • Duméril, A. M. C. and G. Bibron. 1839. Erpétologie Générale on Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles. Vol. 5. Roret/Fain et Thunot, Paris, 871 pp. - get paper here
  • Feltrim, A.C. 2003. Dimorfismo sexual em Cnemidophorus lacertoides (Squamata, Teiidae) do sul da América do Sul. Phyllomedusa 1 (2): 75-80 [2002] - get paper here
  • Gallardo, Jose M. 1966. Liolaemus lentus nov. Sp. (Iguanidae) de la Pampa y Algunas observaciones sobre los saurios de picha provincia Argentina y del oeste de Buenos Aires. Neotropica 12 (37): 15-29
  • Gemel, R.; G. Gassner & S. Schweiger 2019. Katalog der Typen der Herpetologischen Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien – 2018. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, B 121: 33–248 - get paper here
  • Gonzalez R. C. et al. 2020. Lista dos Nomes Populares dos Répteis no Brasil – Primeira Versão. Herpetologia Brasileira 9 (2): 121 – 214 - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1845. Catalogue of the specimens of lizards in the collection of the British Museum. Trustees of die British Museum/Edward Newman, London: xxvii + 289 pp. - 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
  • Maslin, T. & Secoy, D.M. 1986. A checklist of the lizard genus Cnemidophorus (Teiidae). Contr. Zool. Univ. Colorado Mus. 1: 1-60
  • Milstead, William W. 1961. Notes on Teiid lizards in southern Brazil. Copeia 1961 (4): 493-495 - get paper here
  • Prigioni, C.; C. Borteiro; F. Kolenc. 2011. Amphibia and Reptilia, Quebrada de los Cuervos, Departamento de Treinta y Tres, Uruguay. Check List 7 (6): 763-767 - 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
  • Rocha,C.F.D. et al. 2000. New Cnemidophorus (Squamata: Teiidae) from coastal Rio de Janeiro State, Southeastern Brazil. Copeia 2000 (2): 501-509 - get paper here
  • Souza Filho, G.A.; L.Verrastro 2012. Reptiles of the Parque Estadual de Itapuã, state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. Check List 8(5):847-851 - get paper here
  • Uetz, P.H.; Patel, M.; Gbadamosi, Z.; Nguyen, A.; Shoope, S. 2024. A Reference Database of Reptile Images. Taxonomy 4: 723–732 - get paper here
 
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