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Abronia moreletii (BOCOURT, 1872)

IUCN Red List - Abronia moreletii - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaAnguidae (Gerrhonotinae), Diploglossa, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
SubspeciesAbronia moreletii moreletii (BOCOURT 1872)
Abronia moreletii rafaeli (HARTWEG & TIHEN 1946)
Abronia moreletii salvadorensis (SCHMIDT 1928)
Abronia moreletii temporalis (HARTWEG & TIHEN 1946) 
Common NamesE: Morelet's Alligator Lizard
S: Escorpión de Morelet 
SynonymGerrhonotus moreletii BOCOURT 1872: 102
Gerrhonotus fulvus BOCOURT 1872: 104
Gerrhonotus moreletii — O’SHAUGHNESSY 1873: 48
Gerrhonotus moreletii — GÜNTHER 1885: 41
Gerrhonotus moreletii — BOULENGER 1885: 278
Barisia moreleti fulva — TIHEN 1949
Gerrhonotus moreleti moreleti — STUART 1963
Gerrhonotus moreleti fulvus — STUART 1963
Gerrhonotus moreletii fulvus — WERMUTH 1969: 23
Gerrhonotus moreletii — WERMUTH 1969: 22
Gerrhonotus moreletii fulvus — PETERS et al. 1970: 126
Mesaspis moreleti fulva — GOOD 1988: 86
Mesaspis moreleti fulvus — GOOD et al. 1993
Mesaspis moreleti — LINER 1994
Mesaspis moreleti — KÖHLER 2000: 43
Mesaspis moreletii — PIANKA & VITT 2003: 235
Mesaspis moreletii — SOLANO-ZAVALETA et al. 2016
Mesaspis moreletii fulvus — SOLANO-ZAVALETA et al. 2016
Mesaspis moreletii moreletii — SOLANO-ZAVALETA & NIETO-MONTES DE OCA 2017
Abronia moreletii — GUTIÉRREZ-RODRÍGUEZ et al. 2020 (by implication)

Mesaspis moreletii rafaeli (HARTWEG & TIHEN 1946)
Gerrhonotus moreletii rafaeli HARTWEG & TIHEN 1946
Barisia moreletii rafaeli — TIHEN 1949: 223
Barisia moreletii rafaeli — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 199
Gerrhonotus moreleti rafaeli — STUART 1963
Gerrhonotus moreletii rafaeli — WERMUTH 1969: 23
Gerrhonotus moreletii rafaeli — PETERS et al. 1970: 126
Mesaspis moreleti rafaeli — GOOD 1988: 86
Mesaspis moreletii rafaeli — SOLANO-ZAVALETA et al. 2016
Mesaspis moreletii rafaeli — SOLANO-ZAVALETA & NIETO-MONTES DE OCA 2017
Abronia moreletii rafaeli — GUTIÉRREZ-RODRÍGUEZ et al. 2020 (by implication)

Mesaspis moreletii salvadorensis (SCHMIDT 1928)
Gerrhonotus salvadorensis SCHMIDT 1928: 196
Gerrhonotus moreletii salvadorensis — DUNN & EMLEN 1932: 28
Barisia moreleti salvadorensis — TIHEN 1949
Barisia moreleti salvadorensis — MERTENS 1952: 53
Gerrhonotus moreletii salvadorensis — WERMUTH 1969: 23
Gerrhonotus moreletii salvadorensis — PETERS et al. 1970: 126
Mesaspis moreleti salvadorensis — GOOD 1988: 86
Mesaspis moreletii salvadorensis — SOLANO-ZAVALETA & NIETO-MONTES DE OCA 2017
Abronia moreletii salvadorensis — GUTIÉRREZ-RODRÍGUEZ et al. 2020 (by implication)

Mesaspis moreletii temporalis (HARTWEG & TIHEN 1946)
Gerrhonotus moreletii temporalis HARTWEG & TIHEN 1946: 10
Barisia moreletii temporalis — TIHEN 1949: 224
Barisia moreletii temporalis — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 199
Gerrhonotus moreletii temporalis — WERMUTH 1969: 23
Mesaspis moreleti temporalis — GOOD 1988: 86
Mesaspis moreletii temporalis — SOLANO-ZAVALETA et al. 2016
Mesaspis moreletii temporalis — SOLANO-ZAVALETA & NIETO-MONTES DE OCA 2017
Abronia moreletii temporalis — GUTIÉRREZ-RODRÍGUEZ et al. 2020 (by implication) 
DistributionS Mexico (Chiapas), Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala

Type locality: “le Peten, ainsi que les forets de pins de la Haute Vera-Paz (Guatemala), à une altitude de 1.440 m [elevation].”

fulvus: Guatemala; Type locality: “les forets de pins de Totonicapan, Guatemala, à une altitude de 2.460 m [elevation]”.

rafaeli: Guatemala, Mexico (high mountains of S Chiapas). Type locality: 16 km south of Siltepec, Chiapas, 2,300 m elevation

salvadorensis: El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua; Type locality: Los Esesmiles, 6000-8000 ft elevation, Dept. Chalatenango, El Salvador.

temporalis: Mexico (Chiapas); Terra typica; 11 km southeast of Ciudad de las Casas, Chiapas, 2,300 m elevation.

Type locality:  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesSyntype: ZMB 7225; Syntypes: MNHN-RA 1267, MNHN-RA 1994.1690, MNHN-RA 1188, MNHN-RA 1991.1826, MNHN-RA 1991.1827 (5 specimens) (moreletii)
Holotype: UMMZ 88228 [rafaeli]
Holotype: UMMZ 94910 [temporalis]
Syntypes: ZMB 7576, MNHN 2006, MNHN 2007 [fulvus]
Holotype: FMNH 10957 [salvadorensis] 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 50 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSubspecies: The validity of the subspecies has been questioned because of morphological variation (Good 1988, Vesely & Köhler 2001). M. m. fulvus is not listed by Campbell 1989 for Guatemala. Solano-Zavaleta & Nieto-Montes de Oca 2017 suggested to synonymize fulvus with moreletii, given that fulvus is nested within moreletii in a molecular phylogeny.

Nomenclature: the gender of Mesaspis appears to be feminine, so fulvus probably should be fulva, and cuchumatanus may have to be changed to cuchumatana.

Type species: Gerrhonotus moreletii BOCOURT 1872 is the type species of the genus Mesaspis COPE 1878: 96.

Synonymy: Mesaspis is paraphyletic with Abronia and thus Gutiérrez-Rodríguez et al. 2020 suggested to synonymize Mesaspis with Abronia. They still used the genus Mesaspis throughout their paper though.

NCBI taxonIDs: 2060309 [rafaeli], 2060308 [salvadorensis], 2060310 [temporalis]

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after Pierre Arthur Morelet (1809-1892), French naturalist.

A. m. salvadorensis was named after its occurrence in El Salvador. 
References
  • Akeret, B. 2006. Kellerschachtterrarien. Draco 7 (26):70-78 - get paper here
  • Alvarez DEL TORO, M. 1982. Los Reptiles de Chiapas. 3rd ed. México: Tuxtla Gutiérrez, 248 pp.
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Bocourt 1872. Description de quelques Gerronotes nouveaux provenant du Mexique et de l’Afrique Centrale. Bull. Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Nat. Paris 7 (4): 101-108 [1871] - 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
  • Brygoo, E. R. 1987. Les types d'Anguid és (Reptiles, Sauriens) du Museum national d'Histoire naturelle Catalogue critique. Bulletin du Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, 4e ser., 9, sect. A (Zool., BioI. & Ecol. anim.), (2), supplement, 3-20. - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1878. Tenth contribution to the herpetology of Tropical America. Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 17: 85-98 [1877] - get paper here
  • Duellman, William E. 1966. The Central American herpetofauna: An ecological perspective. Copeia 1966 (4): 700-719 - get paper here
  • Dunn, Emmett Reid & Emlen, John T. 1932. Reptiles and amphibians from Honduras. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 84 : 21-32 - get paper here
  • García-Padilla, Elí and Vicente Mata-Silva 2014. Noteworthy distributional records for the herpetofauna of Chiapas, Mexico. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1 (2): 293 - get paper here
  • Good, D.A. 1988. Phylogenetic relationships among gerrhonotine lizards; an analysis of external morphology. Univ. California Publ. Zool. 121: 139 pp. - get paper here
  • Good, David A. 1989. Allozyme Variation and Phylogenetic Relationships among the Species of Mesaspis (Squamata: Anguidae). Herpetologica 45 (2): 227-232 - get paper here
  • Good, David A.; Bauer, Aaron M.;Günther, Rainer 1993. An Annotated Type Catalogue of the Anguimorph Lizards (Squamata: Anguidae, Helodermatidae, Varanidae, Xenosauridae) in the Zoological Museum, Berlin. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berl. 69 (1): 45-56 - get paper here
  • Günther, A. C. L. G. 1885. Reptilia and Batrachia. Biologia Centrali-Américana. Taylor, & Francis, London, 326 pp. [published in parts from 1885-1902; reprint by the SSAR 1987] - get paper here
  • Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, Jorge, Alejandro Zaldívar-Riverón, Israel Solano-Zavaleta, Jonathan A Campbell, Rubi N Meza-Lázaro, Oscar Flores-Villela, and Adrián Nieto-Montes de Oca. 2020. Phylogenomics of the Mesoamerican Alligator-Lizard Genera Abronia and Mesaspis (Anguidae: Gerrhonotinae) Reveals Multiple Independent Clades of Arboreal and Terrestrial Species. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 154: 106963 - get paper here
  • Gutsche, A. 2012. Bewohner des Elfenwaldes: Herpetofauna am Pico La Picucha im Nationalpark Sierra de Agalta, Honduras. Terraria-Elaphe 2012 (5): 68-71 - get paper here
  • Hartweg, N., & TIHEN, J. E. 1946. Lizards of the genus Gerrhonotus from Chiapas, México. Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. Univ. Michigan No. 497: 1-5 - get paper here
  • Johnson, Jerry D.; Vicente Mata-Silva, Elí García Padilla, and Larry David Wilson 2015. The Herpetofauna of Chiapas, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (3): 272–329. - get paper here
  • Köhler, G. 2000. Reptilien und Amphibien Mittelamerikas, Bd 1: Krokodile, Schildkröten, Echsen. Herpeton Verlag, Offenbach, 158 pp.
  • Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd Ed. Herpeton-Verlag, 400 pp.
  • Laking AE, Solís JM, Brown T, Maddock ST, Burdekin O, Taylor P, Lonsdale G, Green SEW, Martin TE, Galdamez JR, Kolby JE, Erens J, Jocque M 2024. The amphibians and reptiles of Cusuco National Park, Northwest Honduras: updates from a long-term conservation programme. In: Lipińska M, Lopez-Selva MM, Sierra JM (Eds) Biodiversity research in Central America. Neotropical Biology and Conservation 19(2): 37-62 - get paper here
  • Langner, Ch. 2019. Ich komme Dir auf die Schliche! Verkanntes Schleichenvolk – die interessanten Echsen der Familie Anguidae. Reptilia (Münster) 24 (136): 16-27 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal, J. A., & Smith, G. R. 2025. Herpetofaunal Richness and Conservation Status of the Chiapas Highlands Biogeographic Province in Mexico. Diversity, 17(9), 593
  • McCranie, James R. 2015. A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Honduras, with additions, comments on taxonomy, some recent taxonomic decisions, and areas of further studies needed. Zootaxa 3931 (3): 352–386 - get paper here
  • McCranie, James R. 2018. The Lizards, Crocodiles, and Turtles of Honduras. Systematics, Distribution, and Conservation. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Special Publication Series (2): 1- 666 - get paper here
  • Mertens, R. 1952. Die Amphibien und Reptilien von El Salvador. Abh. senckenb. naturf. Ges. (Frankfurt) (No. 487): 120 pp.
  • O’Shaughnessy, A. W. E. 1873. Herpetological notes. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (4) 12: 44-48 - get paper here
  • Pianka, E.R. & Vitt, L.J. 2003. Lizards - Windows to the Evolution of Diversity. University of California Press, Berkeley, 347 pp. [review in Copeia 2004: 955] - get paper here
  • Schlüter, U. 2007. Lebensweise, Pflege und Nachzucht der Alligatorschleiche Mesaspis moreletii (BOCOURT, 1871). Draco 7 (27): 74-77 - get paper here
  • Schmidt, Karl P. 1928. Reptiles collected in Salvador for the California Institute of Technology. Zoological Series of Field Museum of Natural History 12 (16): 191-201 - get paper here
  • Solano-Zavaleta, I., Nieto-Montes de Oca, A. 2017. Species limits in the Morelet’s Alligator Lizard (Anguidae: Gerrhonotinae),. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - get paper here
  • Solano-Zavaleta, Israel; Adrián Nieto-Montes de Oca,Jonathan A. Campbell 2016. A New Species of Mesaspis (Squamata: Anguidae) from the High Cuchumatanes of Guatemala. Journal of Herpetology 50 (2): 327-336 - get paper here
  • Solís, José Mario; Rony E. Valle, Luis A. Herrera, Carlos M. O’Reilly, and Roberto Downing. 2015. Range extensions and new departmental records for amphibians and reptiles in Honduras. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (4): 557 - get paper here
  • Solís, J. M., L. D. Wilson, and J. H. Townsend. 2014. An updated list of the amphibians and reptiles of Honduras, with comments on their nomenclature. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1: 123–144 - get paper here
  • Stuart, L. C. 1948. The amphibians and reptiles of Alta Verapaz Guatamala. Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan 69: 1-109 - get paper here
  • Stuart, L.C. 1951. The herpetofauna of the Guatemalan Plateau, with special reference to its distribution on the Southwestern Highlands. Contributions from the Laboratory of Vertebrate Biology, University of Michigan (49): 1-71 - get paper here
  • Stuart, L.C. 1963. A checklist of the herpetofauna of Guatemala. Misc. Publ. Mus. Zool., Univ. Michigan (No. 122): 1-150 - get paper here
  • Sunyer, J. & Köhler, G. 2007. New county and departmental records of herpetofauna in Nicaragua. Salamandra 43 (1): 57-62 - get paper here
  • Sunyer, Javier 2014. An updated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Nicaragua. Mesoamerican Herpetology 1 (2): 186–202. - get paper here
  • Sunyer, Javier & José́ Gabriel Martínez-Fonseca 2023. An updated country checklist to the amphibians and reptiles of Nicaragua. REVISTA NICARAGÜENSE DE BIODIVERSIDAD (100): 1-25 - get paper here
  • Tihen, Joe A. 1949. A review of the lizard genus Barisia. Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 33 (3): 217-254 - 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
  • Vesely, M. & Köhler, G. 2001. Zur Kenntnis von Mesaspis moreletii (BOCOURT 1871) in El Salvador. Salamandra 37 (3): 185-192 - get paper here
 
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