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Dracaena guianensis DAUDIN, 1801

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Higher TaxaTeiidae, Tupinambinae, Gymnophthalmoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Northern Caiman Lizard, Guyana Caiman Lizard
Portuguese: Cabeça-Encarnada, Jacarerana, Jacaruxi, Jacuruxi, Lagarto-Jacaré 
SynonymDracaena guianensis DAUDIN 1801: 421
Teius crocodilurus MERREM 1820: 62
? Thorictes Dracaena — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 56
Dracaena guianensis — BOULENGER 1885: 338
Dracaena guianensis — VANZOLINI & VALENCIA 1966: 15
Dracaena guianensis — PETERS et al. 1970: 111
Dracaena guianensis — MASSARY et al. 2000
Dracaenea guianensis — GRINHAM 2020 (in error) 
DistributionBrazil (Amazonas, Maranhao, Amapa, Acre)
Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Suriname ?, French Guiana

Type locality: “Cayenne” [French Guiana] (not “Amapa” fide MASSARY et al. 2000).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: RMNH 28888 (stuffed specimen) and MNHN-AC (comparative anatomy) 2002.0242 (head skull of the same stuffed specimen of Leiden) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Dracaena is the only genus of Teiidae with subterminal lenticular scale organs positioned atop the prominently keeled ventrals and a complete interangular sulcus containing small granular scales. The combination of two loreals, a laterally compressed tail, and heterogeneous dorsals consisting of large keeled scales surrounded by smaller scales immediately distinguishes Dracaena from all other Teiidae.


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CommentType species: Dracaena guianensis Daudin is the type species of the genus Dracaena Daudin 1801. Note that there is also a genus of trees of the same name.

Distribution: Apparently not present in NE-Brazil. Probably also in Bolivia (fide LANGSTROTH 2005). Reports from French Guiana may be erroneous (HOOGMOED & LESCURE 1975). Not in Guyana fide Cole et al. 2013: 471.

Synonymy mostly after Peters et al. 1970. DAUDIN apparently described the same specimen that has been mentioned by LACÉPÈDE (1788) as Lacerta Dracoena (fide PETERS & DONOSO-BARROS 1970).

Comparisons: Presch 1974: 24 compares character states across the genera Ameiva, Cnemidophorus, Kentropyx, Dicrodon, Teius, Callopistes, Tupinambis, Crocodilurus, and Dracaena. 
EtymologyNamed after its origin in French Guiana.

The genus name Dracaena is the Latin noun Dracaena meaning dragon or, less commonly, lizard. As discussed recently by Massary et al. (2000), Daudin (1801) based his description on the figure titled “La dragonne” and description of Lacerta dracæna by La Cepède (1788). Lacerta Dracaena also appears in Gmelin’s (1789) list along with a brief Latin description. Gmelin’s name would appear to be an available senior synonym of D. guianensis, albeit one that should be suppressed since it has not been used since the late 1700s. 
References
  • Akeret, Beat 2011. Paludarien und Aquaterrarien – eine kurze Einführung in die Thematik. Draco 12 (46): 4-21 - get paper here
  • Antonini R, Kainradl R, Gumpenberger M, Weissenbacher A, Preininger D 2023. Sexual dimorphism in postcloacal scales in the northern caiman lizard (Dracaena guianensis). Herpetozoa 36: 263-272 - get paper here
  • Avila-Pires, T.C.S. 1995. Lizards of Brazilian Amazonia (Reptilia: Squamata). Zoologische Verhandelingen 299: 1-706 - get paper here
  • Avila-Pires, Teresa C.S.; Kleiton R. Alves-Silva, Laís Barbosa, Fabrício S. Correa, Jorge F. A. Cosenza, Ana Paula V. Costa-Rodrigues, Aurea A. Cronemberger, Marinus S. Hoogmoed, Geraldo R. Lima-Filho, Adriano O. Maciel, Alexandre F. R. Missassi, Lyw 2018. Changes in Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Over Time in Parque Estadual do Utinga, a Protected Area Surrounded by Urbanization. Herpetology Notes 11: 499-512 - 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
  • CATENAZZI, A., LEHR, E. & VON MAY, R. 2013. The amphibians and reptiles of Manu National Park and its buffer zone, Amazon basin and eastern slopes of the Andes, Peru. Biota Neotropica 13 (4): 269-283
  • Crnobrna B, Santa-Cruz Farfan R, Gallegos C, López-Rojas JJ, Llanqui IB, Pisco GP, Arbaiza AK 2023. Herpetological records from the Abujao basin, central Peruvian Amazon. Check List 19(4): 433-465 - get paper here
  • Daudin, F. M. 1801. Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière des Reptiles; ouvrage faisant suit à l'Histoire naturell générale et particulière, composée par Leclerc de Buffon; et rédigee par C.S. Sonnini, membre de plusieurs sociétés savantes. Vol. 2. F. Dufart, Paris, 432 pp. [publication date fide Harper 1940] - get paper here
  • Dixon, J. R.; Soini, P. 1975. The reptiles of the upper Amazon basin, Iquitos region, Peru, Part I. Lizards and Amphisbaenians. Milwaukee Public Museum Contributions in Biology and Geology 4: 1-58 [1986?] - get paper here
  • Duellman, W. E. 2005. Cusco Amazónico: The Lives of Amphibians and Reptiles in an Amazonian Rainforest. Comstock Pub Assoc.
  • Duellman, W.E., & Salas, A.W. 1991. Annotated checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Cuzco Amazonico, Peru. Occas. Papers Mus. of Natur. Hist., Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence (143): 13 pp. - get paper here
  • Duméril, A. M. C. and G. Bibron. 1839. Erpétologie Générale on Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles. Vol. 5. Roret/Fain et Thunot, Paris, 871 pp. - get paper here
  • Estes, Richard and Ernest E. Williams 1984. Ontogenetic Variation in the Molariform Teeth of Lizards. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 4 (1): 96-107 - get paper here
  • Gonzalez R. C. et al. 2020. Lista dos Nomes Populares dos Répteis no Brasil – Primeira Versão. Herpetologia Brasileira 9 (2): 121 – 214 - get paper here
  • Grinham, Luke R. 2020. The ecomorphology of facultative bipedality in Lepidosauria: implications for the evolution of reptilian bipedality. PhD thesis, University of Cambridge, - get paper here
  • Haeberle, H. 1979. Der Panzerteju, Dracaena guianensis. DATZ 1979: 28-29
  • Harper, Francis 1940. Some works of Bartram, Daudin, Latreille, and Sonnini, and their bearing upon North American herpetological nomenclature. American Midland Naturalist 23 (3): 692-723 - get paper here
  • HARVEY, MICHAEL B.; GABRIEL N. UGUETO & RONALD L. GUTBERLET, Jr. 2012. Review of Teiid Morphology with a Revised Taxonomy and Phylogeny of the Teiidae (Lepidosauria: Squamata). Zootaxa 3459: 1–156 - get paper here
  • Hoogmoed, M.S., & Lescure, J. 1975. An annotated checklist of the lizards of French Guiana, mainly based on two recent collections. Zoologische Mededelingen 49(13): 141-172. - get paper here
  • Lacépède, B. G. E. 1788. Histoire Naturelle des Quadrupe des Ovipares et des Serpens. Vol.1. Imprimerie du Roi, Hôtel de Thou, Paris, xvii + 651 pp. - get paper here
  • Langstroth, R.P. 2005. Adiciones probables y confirmadas para la saurofauna boliviana. Kempffiana 1 (1): 101-128
  • Massary, J. C. de; Hoogmoed,M.S. & Blanc,M. 2000. Comments on the type specimen of Dracaena guianensis Daudin 1801 (Reptilia: Sauria: Teiidae), and rediscovery of the species in French Guiana. Zoologische Mededelingen 74: 167-180 - get paper here
  • Merrem, B. 1820. Versuch eines Systems der Amphibien I (Tentamen Systematis Amphibiorum). J. C. Kriegeri, Marburg, 191 pp. - get paper here
  • Preininger, Doris; Manuela Sirny, Eveline Dungl & Anton Weissenbacher 2016. Der Krokodilteju (Dracaena guianensis) im Tiergarten Schönbrunn. Terraria-Elaphe 2016 (2): 26-32 - get paper here
  • Presch, William 1974. Evolutionary relationships and biogeography of the macroteiid lizards (Family Teiidae, Subfamily Teiinae). Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 73 (1): 23-32 - get paper here
  • Prudente, A.L.C.; F. Magalhães; A. Menks; J.F.M. Sarmento. 2013. Checklist of Lizards of the Juruti, state of Pará, Brazil. Check List 9 (1):42-50 - get paper here
  • Rabosky, Daniel L.; Rudolf von May, Michael C. Grundler and Alison R. Davis Rabosky 2019. The Western Amazonian Richness Gradient for Squamate Reptiles: Are There Really Fewer Snakes and Lizards in Southwestern Amazonian Lowlands? Diversity 11: 199; doi:10.3390/d11100199 - get paper here
  • Rand, A.S. 1964. An observation on Dracaena guianensis foraging underwater Herpetologica 20 (3): 207. - get paper here
  • RIBEIRO-JÚNIOR, MARCO A., SILVANA AMARAL 2016. Catalogue of distribution of lizards (Reptilia: Squamata) from the Brazilian Amazonia. III. Anguidae, Scincidae, Teiidae. Zootaxa 4205 (5): 401–430 - get paper here
  • Ribeiro-Júnior, Marco A. & Silvana Amaral 2016. Diversity, distribution, and conservation of lizards (Reptilia: Squamata) in the Brazilian Amazonia. Neotropical Biodiversity, 2:1, 195-421 - get paper here
  • Switak, K.-H. 2014. Den mächtigen Amazonas entlang. Im herpetologischen Paradies. Reptilia (Münster) 19 (108): 76-85
  • Torres-Carvajal O, Pazmiño-Otamendi G, Salazar-Valenzuela D. 2019. Reptiles of Ecuador: a resource-rich portal, with a dynamic checklist and photographic guides. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 13 (1): [General Section]: 209–229 (e178) - get paper here
  • Vanzolini, P. E. 1961. Notas bionomicas sóbre Dracaena guianensis no Pará (Sauria, Teiidae). Papéis Avulsos Zoologia (São Paulo) 14 (25): 237-241 - get paper here
  • Vanzolini,P.E. & Valencia,J. 1966. The genus Dracaena, with a brief consideration of macroteiid relationships (Sauria, Teiidae). Arquivos de Zoologia 13 [1965]: 7-35 [1965]
  • Waldez, F., Menin, M., & Vogt, R. C. 2013. Diversidade de anfíbios e répteis Squamata na região do baixo rio Purus, Amazônia Central, Brasil. Biota Neotropica, 13: 300–316 - get paper here
  • Werning, H. 2010. Ein Stück Natur im Wohnzimmer. Reptilia (Münster) 15 (84): 16-23 - get paper here
 
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