Echinosaura keyi (FRITTS & SMITH, 1969)

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Higher Taxa	Gymnophthalmidae (Cercosaurinae), Sauria, Gymnophthalmoidea, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Key Tegu S: Lagartija minadora tropical
Synonym	Teuchocercus keyi FRITTS & SMITH 1969: 54 Teuchocercus keyi — TORRES-CARVAJAL 2001 Teuchocercus keyi —FRITTS et al. 2002 Teuchocercus keyi — KÖHLER et al. 2004 Echinosaura keyi — TORRES-CARVAJAL et al. 2016 Echinosaura keyi — YÁNEZ-MUÑOZ et al. 2021
Distribution	Ecuador (Esmeraldas) Type locality: Ecuador, Pichincha, 4 km E Rio Baba bridge, 600 m
Reproduction	oviparous
Types	Holotype: INHS (= UIMNH) 80451, male
Diagnosis	Unfortunately 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 6237 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details.
Comment	Type species: Teuchocercus keyi FRITTS & SMITH 1969 is the type species of the genus Teuchocercus FRITTS & SMITH 1969. Distribution: see map in Vásquez-Restrepo & Daza 2025: 132 (Fig. 2)
Etymology	Named after Dr. George Key (1942-1999), a physician and amateur herpetologist who collected amphibians and reptiles in Ecuador for the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology.
References	Arteaga, A.; Bustamante, L.; Vieira, J. 2024. Reptiles of Ecuador. Khamai Foundation & Tropical Herping, 1073 pp. - get paper here Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here Carrera, C. et al. 2009. Guía de Campo de los Pequeños Vertebrados del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito (DMQ). Publicación Miscelánea N° 5. Serie de Publicaciones del Museo Ecuatoriano de Ciencias Naturales (MECN) – Fondo Ambiental del MDMQ. 1-89 pp. Imprenta Nuevo Arte. Quito-Ecuador. Fritts, T.H. & SMITH, H.M. 1969. A new teiid lizard genus from Western Ecuador. Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci. 72: 54-59 - get paper here Fritts, Thomas H., Ana Almendáriz and Sissi Samec 2002. A new species of Echinosaura (Gymnophthalmidae) from Ecuador and Colombia with comments on other members of the genus and Teuchocercus keyi. Journal of Herpetology 36 (3): 349-355 - get paper here Köhler, G.; Böhme, W. & Schmitz, A. 2004. A new species of Echinosaura (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) from Ecuador. Journal of Herpetology 38 (1): 52-60 - get paper here 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 Torres-Carvajal, O. 2001. Lizards of Ecuador: Checklist, Distribution, and Systematic References. Smithsonian Herp. Inf. Serv. (131): 1-35 - get paper here Torres-Carvajal, Omar; Simón E. Lobos, Pablo J. Venegas, Germán Chávez, Vanessa Aguirre-Peñafiel, Daniel Zurita, Lourdes Y. Echevarría 2016. Phylogeny and biogeography of the most diverse clade of South American gymnophthalmid lizards (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae, Cercosaurinae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 99: 63-75, doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2016.03.006 Vásquez-Restrepo, J. D., & Daza, J. M. 2025. A new species of hedgehog-lizard of the genus Echinosaura (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae) from Colombia and Panama with a reevaluation of the conservation status of the genus. Zootaxa 5583(1): 128-142 - get paper here Yánez-Muñoz MH, Torres-Carvajal O, Reyes-Puig JP, Urgiles-Merchán MA, Koch C. 2021. A new and very spiny lizard (Gymnophthalmidae: Echinosaura) from the Andes in northwestern Ecuador. PeerJ 9:e12523 - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information https://bioweb.bio/faunaweb/reptiliaweb/FichaEspecie/Echinosaura%20keyi Google images

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