Holcosus chaitzami (STUART, 1942)
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Holcosus chaitzami?
Holcosus chaitzami
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| Higher Taxa | Teiidae, Teiinae, Gymnophthalmoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Chaitzam's Ameiva S: Ameiva de Chaitzam |
| Synonym | Ameiva chaitzami STUART 1942 Ameiva undulata thomasi SMITH & LAUFE 1946 (part.) Ameiva chaitzami — STUART 1963 Ameiva chaitzami — ECHTERNACHT 1971: 59 Ameiva undulata tomasi — ALVAREZ DEL TORO 1982 (part.) Ameiva chaitzami — LINER 1994 Ameiva chaitzami — KÖHLER 2000: 97 Holcosus chaitzami — HARVEY et al. 2012 |
| Distribution | SE Mexico (Chiapas), Guatemala (Petén, Quecchian, and Grijalvan Areas) Type locality: Along Cahabon–Coban trail about 2 km N Finca Canihor (about 38 km airline ENE Coban), Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: UMMZ 90638 |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Ameiva chaitzami can be distinguished from other Middle American congeners by the following combination of characters: Small size (maximum observed SVL of males 85 mm, of females 75 mm); central gular scales enlarged, in longitudinal arrangement; gradual reduction in size of scales radiating outward from central gular scales; prefrontal scales in contact with postnasal scales; three parietal scales (four if median parietal scale divided); a transverse row of abruptly enlarged mesoptychial scales; usually eight transverse rows of ventral scutes; relatively narrow middorsal stripe (mean paravertebral granules, PV = 37.1); no narrow, well-defined vertebral stripe; usually a dark secondary stripe medial to the dorsolateral light stripes; dorsolateral blotches of males fused to the dorsolateral light stripe such that the latter has a well-defined dorsal border and an irregular ventral border. Adult male Ameiva chaitzami can be distinguished from other Ameiva readily on the basis of pattern. Juvenile individuals and females are difficult to differentiate from some undidata, especially those from the coastal lowlands of eastern Veracruz, Tabasco, Chiapas and extreme western Campeche, Mexico. However, there are no signs of intergradation or hybridization of chaitzami with other species of Ameiva. The only Ameiva with which chaitzami comes in contact is the large form of undulata having a color pattern as shown in figure 21, and there is no difficulty in distinguishing the two species (from Echternacht 1971: 59). |
| Comment | Synonymy: Echternacht (1971) synonymized H. u. thomasi with H. chaitzami; however, examination of most of the types of H. chaitzami, as well as some types and nine additional specimens from around the type locality of H. u. thomasi, suggests that these two taxa actually represent distinct species (Meza-Lázaro et al. 2015). Similar species: Aspidoscelis motaguae. |
| Etymology | Dedicated to Chaitzam, the mountain lord who dominates the lower Cahabón Valley." (Stuart 1942); it’s unclear what he was referring to. |
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