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Sceloporus couchii BAIRD, 1859

IUCN Red List - Sceloporus couchii - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaPhrynosomatidae, Sceloporinae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Couch's Spiny Lizard
S: Lagartija de las Cercas 
SynonymSceloporus couchii BAIRD 1859
Sceloporus couchii — BOULENGER 1885: 231
Lysoptychus lateralis COPE 1888 (fide SMITH 1939)
Sceloporus lateralis — BOULENGER 1890 (fide SMITH 1939)
Lysoptychus lateralis — COPE 1900: 329
Sceloporus couchii — SMITH 1939: 240
Sceloporus couchii — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 132
Lysoptychus couchi — LARSEN & TANNER 1975
Sceloporus couchii — LINER 1994
Sceloporus couchii — BELL et al. 2003: 20
Sceloporus couchii — SOLIS-ZURITA et al. 2019
Sceloporus couchii — HEIMES 2022 
DistributionMexico (E Coahuila, C/N Nuevo Leon)

lateralis: Type Locality: San Diego, Duval County, Texas, in error; the species is restricted to Mexico. The type probably came from somewhere in Nuevo León (BELL et al. 2003)

Type locality: Santa Catarina, Nuevo León  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: USNM 2739b, selected from a series of 9 specimens under the same number, by Smith (1939); Lieut. Darius Nash Couch collector, April 1853.
Holotype: USNM 14741, a typical S. couchi, collected by W. P. Taylor; given as USNM 2739 by Dickerson 1919: 468 [lateralis] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Smith 1939: 240


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CommentDistribution: Not listed by CROTHER 2000, 2017 for the USA.

Type species: Lysoptychus lateralis is the type species of the genus Lysoptychus COPE 1888

Synonymy: Lysoptychus was not recognized by herpetologists and Cope’s specimen has been referred to Sceloporus couchii Baird (type,,fromSanta Catarina, Nuevo Leon, Mexico) (Stejneger and Barbour, 1917, Check List, p. 53). 
EtymologyThis Latin noun in the genitive singular honors Lieut. Darius Nash Couch (1822-1897), the collector. See Conant 1968 for more biographical details.

lateralis: The Latin adjective lateralis, "of the side," probably was based on the very prominent lateral dark and light stripes. 
References
  • Baeza-Tarín, F., Hernández, T., Herr, M., Giovanetto, L., Lazcano, D., & Graham, S. P. 2025. NEW DISTRIBUTION RECORDS OF AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF MADERAS DEL CARMEN, COAHUILA, MEXICO. The Southwestern Naturalist, 68(4), 257-262 - get paper here
  • Baird, S.F. 1859. Description of new genera and species of North American lizards in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 10: 253-256 [1858] - get paper here
  • Bell, E.L.; Smith, H.M. & Chiszar, D. 2003. AN ANNOTATED LIST OF THE SPECIES-GROUP NAMES APPLIED TO THE LIZARD GENUS SCELOPORUS. Acta Zoologica Mexicana (n.s.) 90: 103-174 - 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
  • Boulenger, G. A. 1890. First report on additions to the lizard collection in the British Museum (Natural History). Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1890: 77—86 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1885. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Vol. 2, Second edition. London, xiii+497 pp. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1897. A revision of the lizards of the genus Sceloporus. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1897: 474-522 - get paper here
  • Conant, R. 1968. Zoological exploration in Mexico - the Route of Lieut. D.N. Couch in 1853. American Museum Novitates (2350): 1-14 - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1888. Catalogue of Batrachia and Reptilia brought by William Taylor from San Diego, Tex. Proc. US Natl. Mus. 11: 395-398 [1889] - get paper here
  • Heimes, P. 2022. LIZARDS OF MEXICO - Part 1 Iguanian lizards. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt Am Main, 448 pp. - get paper here
  • Hernandez, T O; Herr, M W; Trevino, A E; Lazcano, D; Black, M & Graham, S P 2018. Geographic Distribution: Sceloporus couchii (Couch's Spiny Lizard). Herpetological Review 49 (3): 504 - get paper here
  • Johnson, J. D., L. D. Wilson, V. Mata-Silva, E. García-Padilla, and D. L. DeSantis. 2017. The endemic herpetofauna of Mexico: organisms of global significance in severe peril. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4 (3): 544–620 - get paper here
  • Köhler, G. & Heimes, P. 2002. Stachelleguane. Herpeton-Verlag (Offenbach), 174 pp.
  • Larsen, Kenneth R.;Tanner, Wilmer W. 1975. Evolution of the sceloporine lizards (Iguanidae). Great Basin Naturalist 35 (1): 1-20 - get paper here
  • Lazcano D, Nevárez-de los Reyes M, García-Padilla E, Johnson JD, Mata-Silva V, DeSantis DL, Wilson LD. 2019. The herpetofauna of Coahuila, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 13(2) [General Section]: 31–94 (e189) - get paper here
  • Leaché, A.D. 2009. Species trees for spiny lizards (Genus Sceloporus): Identifying points of concordance and conflict between nuclear and mitochondrial data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54: 162–171 [print 2010] - get paper here
  • Leaché, A.D. & J.W.Sites, Jr. 2009. Chromosome Evolution and Diversification in North American Spiny Lizards (Genus Sceloporus). Cytogenet Genome Res 127: 166-181 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal, J.A. & Smith, H.M. 2007. Amphibians and reptiles of the state of Coahuila, Mexico. Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 550 pp.
  • Nevárez-de-los-Reyes, Manuel, David Lazcano, Elí García-Padilla, Vicente Mata-Silva, Jerry D. Johnson and Larry David Wilson. 2016. The Herpetofauna of Nuevo León, Mexico: Composition, Distribution, and Conservation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (3): 558–638 - get paper here
  • Schmidt, K.P., and D. Owens. 1944. Amphibians and reptiles of northern Coahuila, Mexico. Field Museum of Natural History, Zoological Series. Chicago. 29: 97-115. - get paper here
  • Smith, H. M. 1939. The Mexican and Central American lizards of the genus Sceloporus. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Zool. Ser. 26: 1-397. - get paper here
  • Smith, H.M. 1937. A synopsis of the Variabilis group of the lizard genus Sceloporus, with descriptions of new subspecies. Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Mich 358: 1-14 - get paper here
  • Smith, Hobart M. 1939. An annotated list of the Mexican amphibians and reptiles in the Carnegie Museum. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 27: 311-320
  • Solis‐Zurita, C, De Luna, E, González, D. 2019. Phylogenetic relationships in the Sceloporus variabilis (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae) complex based on three molecular markers, continuous characters and geometric morphometric data. Zoologica Scripta 48: 419– 439 - get paper here
 
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