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Ctenosaura quinquecarinata (GRAY, 1842)

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Higher TaxaIguanidae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Five-keeled Spiny-tailed Iguana, Oaxacan Spinytail Iguana 
SynonymCyclura quinquecarinata GRAY 1842: 59
Enyaliosaurus quinquecarinatus — GRAY 1845: 192
Cyclura (Ctenosaura) quinquecarinata — COPE 1870: 161
Ctenosaura (Enyaliosaurus) quinquecarinata — BOCOURT 1874 (in: DUMÉRIL & BOCOURT)
Ctenosaura quinquecarinata — BOULENGER 1885: 198
Ctenosaura quinquecarinata — GÜNTHER 1885: 58
Ctenosaura quinquecarinata — BAILEY 1928: 42
Enyaliosaurus quinquecarinata — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 76
Enyaliosaurus quinquecarinata — WERLER & SMITH 1952
Enyaliosaurus quinquecarinata — DUELLMAN 1966
Enyaliosaurus quinquecarinatus — PETERS & DONOSO-BARROS 1970
Enyaliosaurus quinquecarinatus — GICCA 1983
Ctenosaura quinquecarinatus — LINER 1994
Ctenosaura quinquecarinata — KÖHLER 2000: 75
Ctenosaura (Enyaliosaurus) quinquecarinata — KÖHLER et al. 2000
Ctenosaura praeocularis HASBÚN & KÖHLER 2009
Ctenosaura praeocularis — MALONE et al. 2017
Ctenosaura quinquecarinata — SUNYER & MARTÍNEZ-FONSECA 2023 
DistributionS Mexico,
Nicaragua (Chontales, Matagalpa, Jinotega, Boaco, Managua, Granada),
El Salvador, NW Costa Rica (Guanacaste)

Type locality: unknown. Restricted to Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, by BAILEY 1928.

praeocularis: Honduras; Type locality: Cerro Las Mesitas, 10 km east of Sabanagrande toward Nueva Armenia, Montegrande, Departamento Francisco Morazán, Honduras, 800 m elevation, 13°46.43’N, 86°11.83’W.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.8.30.48
Holotype: SMF 79520, an adult male, collected 8 August 1999 by Carlos Roberto Hasbún. Field tag number H4 [praeocularis] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (n=23): “Median dorsal crest made up of low, thin, leaflike scales, extending from nape to sacrum. Upper surface of hind limbs covered with large spinous seales. Upper surface of tail covered with alternate rings of larger and smaller scales, the central, and especially the two or three lateral series of larger scales, being very large and heavily armed with a sharp spine directed backward Except at base of tail the larger scales forming the three series on either side of the central caudal spines are flat.” (most specimens from Oaxaca; BAILEY 1928: 43)


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CommentSynonymy: McCranie 2018 (and previous authors) placed Ctenosaura praeocularis in the synonymy of Ctenosaura quinquecarinata.

Distribution: Not listed for Honduras and El Salvador by KÖHLER (2000). Not listed for Honduras by WILSON & MCCRANIE (2002). Not in Mexico and El Salvador fide HUY (2008). Not in Oaxaca fide Mata-Silva et al. 2015.

BURRÉ (2004) described hybridization between Ctenosaura oaxacana and Ctenosaura quinquecarinata.

Type species: Cyclura quinquecarinata GRAY 1842 is the type species of the subgenus Enyaliosaurus GRAY 1845. 
EtymologyNamed after the Latin quinque (five) and carinatus (keeled). The meaning is unclear as are meanings of many names erected by Gray (see Pyron et al., 2014). 
References
  • Akeret, Beat 2015. Reptilien und Sukkulenten. Draco 16 (62): 21-27
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  • Arakelyan, Marine S.; Felix D. Danielyan, Claudia Corti, Roberto Sindaco, and Alan E. Leviton 2011. The Herpetofauna of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. SSAR, Salt Lake City, 154 pp. [ISBN: 978-0-916984-84-7.]
  • Bailey, J. W. 1928. A revision of the lizards of the genus Ctenosaura. Proc. US Natl. Mus. 73 (2733): 1-55. - 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
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  • Hasbún, Carlos Roberto and Gunther Köhler 2009. New Species of Ctenosaura (Squamata, Iguanidae) from Southeastern Honduras. Journal of Herpetology 43 (2): 192-204 - get paper here
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