Sceloporus minor COPE, 1885
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Sceloporus minor
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| Higher Taxa | Phrynosomatidae, Sceloporinae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | Sceloporus minor cyaneus TREVIÑO-SALDAÑA 1988 Sceloporus minor erythrocyaneus MERTENS 1950 Sceloporus minor immucronatus SMITH 1936 Sceloporus minor minor COPE 1885 |
| Common Names | E: Minor Lizard, Red Minor Lizard S: Lagartija Menor E: Northern Blue Mountain Lizard [cyaneus] S: Lagartija Aspera Azul [cyaneus] E: Red-spotted Minor Lizard [erythrocyaneus] S: Menor de Manchas Rojas [erythrocyaneus] S: Lagartija Menor Azul [immucronatus] E: Southern Blue Minor Lizard [immucronatus] |
| Synonym | Sceloporus torquatus minor COPE 1885: 402 Sceloporus jarrovii minor — SMITH 1938: 631 Sceloporus jarrovii minor — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 128 Sceloporus torquatus minor — WEBB & AXTELL 1994 Sceloporus minor – WIENS, REEDER & NIETO MONTES DE OCA 1999 Sceloporus jarrovii immucronatus (fide WIENS et al. 1999) Sceloporus jarrovii minor — WIENS & PENKROT 2002 Sceloporus minor minor — BELL et al. 2003 Sceloporus minor — HEIMES 2022 Sceloporus minor cyaneus TREVIÑO-SALDAÑA 1988 Sceloporus jarrovii cyaneus TREVIÑO-SALDAÑA 1988 Sceloporus minor cyaneus — BELL et al. 2003 Sceloporus minor cyaneus — LINER & CASAS-ANDREU 2008 Sceloporus minor erythrocyaneus MERTENS 1950 Sceloporus jarrovii erythrocyaneus MERTENS 1950 Sceloporus jarrovii erythrocyaneus — TRAVIÑO-SALDANA 1988 Sceloporus jarrovii erythrocyaneus (fide WIENS et al. 1999) Sceloporus minor erythrocyaneus — BELL et al. 2003 Sceloporus minor erythrocyaneus — LINER & CASAS-ANDREU 2008 Sceloporus erythrocyaneus — PÉREZ-RAMOS 2020 Sceloporus minor immucronatus SMITH 1936 Sceloporus jarrovii immucronatus SMITH 1936: 223 Sceloporus jarrovii immucronatus — WIENS & PENKROT 2002 Sceloporus minor immucronatus — BELL et al. 2003 Sceloporus minor immucronatus — LINER & CASAS-ANDREU 2008 Sceloporus immucronatus — PÉREZ-RAMOS 2020 |
| Distribution | Mexico (N Quéretaro and Guanajuato, W Zacatecas, most of San Luis Potosí, to W Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Aguascalientes) cyaneus: Mexico (Nuevo León). Type Locality: Cañon de la Presa de la Boca, Santiago, Nuevo León, Mexico. erythrocyaneus: Mexico (Querétaro). Type Locality: Cadereyta, Querétaro, Mexico. immucronatus: W Querétaro through Hidalgo, E San Luis Potosí, SC Veracruz. Type locality: Ten miles north of El Pinalito, Hidalgo. Type locality: Zacatecas. Restricted to Valparaiso Mountains by SMITH & TAYLOR 1950 and to E Zacatecas by WEBB & AXTELL 1994. |
| Reproduction | All species of the torquatus group are ovovivparous. |
| Types | Lectotype: USNM 26167, collected by A. Dugès, designated by Webb and Axtell (1994). Holotype: UANL 332, collected on 2 November 1966 by Juan José Velasco-Torres [cyaneus] Holotype: SMF (Senckenberg Mus. 41 151), collected by H. O. Wagner, 1 September 1949 [erythrocyaneus] Holotype: FMNH 100056, was EHT and HMS No. 500, Male [immucronatus] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Smith 1939: 229. |
| Comment | Subspecies: Sceloporus torquatus minor is now treated as an evolutionary species or as a subspecies of S. jarrovii. Nomenclatural history: “Sceloporus torquatus minor is a name Cope proposed for lizards of the torquatus group from "Zacatecas" in 1885. Subsequently, the epithet minor was transferred to S. jarrovi and the type locality of S. j. minor was restricted to the "Valparaiso Mountains" in western Zacatecas. Our comparison of the two original syntypes of S. j. minor with lizards from the Valparaiso Mountains indicates that they do not represent the same taxon. Types and type locality: The type locality of S. t. minor Cope is herein restricted to eastern Zacatecas where the resident lizards closely resemble the two syntypes; one of these syntypes (USNM 26167) is designated as the lectotype, the other (USNM 26166) as a paralectotype, of S. t. minor Cope.” (abstract of Webb & Axtell 1994). Synonymy: S. minor oberon has been synonymized with S. ornatus or, alternatively, suggested to be a subspecies of S. ornatus by MARTINEZ-MENDEZ & MENDEZ-DE LA CRUZ 2007. Diet: the diet of red males was composed of 12 categories of prey, while that of yellow males was composed of 10 categories; those categories of diet not shared between morphs (e.g., Isoptera, Psocoptera) were consumed by their respective morph in very low proportions. Categories of diet with the highest values of food importance for both groups were Coleoptera, Orthoptera, and leaves; a similar pattern was seen across seasons (García-Rosales et al. 2019). |
| Etymology | The name is the Latin noun minor, "little," and may have referred to a perceived lesser version of S. torquatus. Etymology (cyaneus): The Latin adjective cyaneus, "dark blue," refers to the blue on the dorsum and limbs. Etymology (erythrocyaneus): The Greek erythros, "red," and kyaneos, "dark blue," aptly describe this form, pictured in color on the cover of the issue in which it was described. Etymology (immucronatus): The Latin prefix im-, "not," and nominative singular Latin noun mucronatus "pointed," refer to the weakly pointed (immucronate) body scales. |
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