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Lepidophyma sylvaticum TAYLOR, 1939

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Higher TaxaXantusiidae (Lepidophyminae), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Madrean Tropical Night Lizard
S: Lagartija Nocturna de Montaña. 
SynonymLepidophyma sylvatica TAYLOR 1939
Gaigeia sylvatica — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 154
Lepidophyma flavimaculatum tenebrarum WALKER 1955 (fide BEZY 2002)
Lepidophyma sylvaticum — SAVAGE 1963
Lepidophyma sylvaticum — LINER 1994
Lepidophyma sylvaticum — WHITING et al. 2003
Lepidophyma sylvaticum — JOHNSON et al. 2017
Lepidophyma sylvaticum — GRÜNWALD et al. 2023 
DistributionMexico (Hidalgo, Puebla, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Queretaro, Veracruz)

Type locality: Seven miles north of Zacualtipan, Hidalgo.

tenebrarum: Tamaulipas; Type locality: Tamaulipas, ca. 8.1 km NW (by road) Gómez Farías, Sierra Madre Oriental, Rancho del Cielo, ca. 1097 m elevation.  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesHolotype: FMNH 100102, originally EHT-HMS 16259 
DiagnosisDIAGNOSIS (DIAGNOSTIC CHARACTERS). The species differs from L. dontomasi, L. radula, L. tarascae, and L. lineri in having 22 or more femoral pores; from L. gaigeae in having distinctly enlarged lateral tubercles forming 15 to 38 rows; from L. tuxtlae and L. pajapanense in having the paravertebral rows composed of tubercles that are heterogeneous in size; from L. lowei in having 40 or more gulars; from L. occulor in having 56 or fewer gulars; from L. smithii in having a pale parietal spot throughout life; from L. lipetzi and L. chicoasense in having four or fewer pretympanics; from L. micropholis in having 217 or fewer dorsals; from L. reticulatum in having a higher second postorbital supralabial (RSLH of 0.84 or greater); and from L. flavimaculatum in having 3 or fewer pretympanics (99.3%) and a higher second supralabial (RSLH of 0.84 or greater; 99.3%). (BEZY & CAMARILLO 2002) 
CommentDistribution: The occurrence of L. sylvaticum at Alvarado on the coast of Veracruz is somewhat enigmatic and brings the range of the species to within ca. 85 km of that of L. flavimaculatum. The two species appear to maintain their morphological differences in this area, with the Alvarado specimen (MZFC 1722) differing from the northernmost L. flavimaculatum (ENEPI 2104 from the Tuxtlas region) in pretympanics (2 vs 4) and the height of the second postorbital supralabial (RSLH 0.98 vs. 0.58). Within L. sylvaticum, the morphologically most distinctive group of populations is composed of the samples from widely disjunct localities in the Sierra Álvarez of San Luis Potosí and in the northern base of the Sierra Madre Oriental of Nuevo León (from BEZY & CAMARILLO 2002). See map in Grünwald et al. 2023: 18 (Fig. 7) and LARA-TUFIÑO & NIETO-MONTES DE OCA 2021: 331 (Fig. 6). 
References
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  • Bezy, R. 2024. Photos of Type Specimens of Lepidophyma (Reptilia: Squamata: Xantusiidae) ResearchGate - get paper here
  • Bezy, R.L. 1984. Systematics of xantusiid lizards of the genus Lepidophyma in northeastern Mexico. Contributions in Science (Los Angeles) 349: 1-16 - get paper here
  • Bezy,R.L. & Camarillo, J.L. 2002. SYSTEMATICS OF XANTUSIID LIZARDS OF THE GENUS LEPIDOPHYMA. Contributions in Science (493): 1–41 - get paper here
  • Camarillo,R.J.L. 1995. Distribution records for some amphibians and reptiles from Mexico. Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 31 (4): 195-197 - get paper here
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  • Lara-Tufiño, José Daniel & Adrián Nieto-Montes de Oca 2021. A New Species of Night Lizard of the Genus Lepidophyma (Xantusiidae) from Southern Mexico. Herpetologica Dec 2021 Vol. 77, No. 4: 320-334 - get paper here
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  • 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
  • Savage, J. M. 1963. 'Studies on the Lizard Family Xantusiidae IV. The Genera. Contributions in Science, Los Angeles County Museum (71): 1 - 38 - get paper here
  • Smith, H.M. & Taylor,E.H. 1950. An annotated checklist and key to the reptiles of Mexico exclusive of the snakes. Bull. US Natl. Mus. 199: 1-253 - get paper here
  • Taylor,E.H. 1939. A new species of the lizard genus Lepidophyma from Mexico. Copeia 1939 (3): 131-133 - get paper here
  • Tepos-Ramírez M, Garduño-Fonseca FS, Peralta-Robles CA, García-Rubio OR, Cervantes Jiménez R 2023. Annotated checklist of amphibians and reptiles from Querétaro, Mexico, including new records, and comments on controversial species. Check List 19(2): 269-292 - get paper here
  • Terán-Juárez, Sergio A., Elí García Padilla, Vicente Mata-Silva, Jerry D. Johnson and Larry David Wilson. 2016. The herpetofauna of Tamaulipas, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 3 (1): 43–113 - get paper here
  • Terán-Juarez,S. A.. J. D. Lara-Tufiño, and A. Ramírez-Bautista 2017. Lepidophyma sylvaticum. Captive birth. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4 (1): 176–177 - get paper here
  • Torres-Hernández, LA, Ramírez-Bautista A, Cruz-Elizalde R, Hernández-Salinas U, Berriozabal-Islas C, DeSantis DL, Johnson JD, Rocha A, García-Padilla E, Mata-Silva V, Fucsko LA, and Wilson LD. 2021. The herpetofauna of Veracruz, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 15(2) [General Section]: 72–155 - get paper here
  • Whiting, A.S.; Aaron M. Bauer & Jack W. Sites, Jr. 2003. Phylogenetic relationships and limb loss in sub-Saharan African scincine lizards (Squamata: Scincidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 29 (3): 582-598 - get paper here
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