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Gymnophthalmus speciosus (HALLOWELL, 1861)

IUCN Red List - Gymnophthalmus speciosus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaGymnophthalmidae (Gymnophthalminae), Gymnophthalmini, Sauria, Gymnophthalmoidea, Squamata (lizards)
SubspeciesGymnophthalmus speciosus speciosus (HALLOWELL 1861)
Gymnophthalmus speciosus birdi STUART 1939
Gymnophthalmus speciosus sumichrasti (COPE 1875) 
Common NamesE: Golden Tegulet, Golden Spectacled Tegu
S: Lagartija dorada, lisita coliroja 
SynonymBlepharictisis speciosa HALLOWELL 1861: 484
Tretioscincus laevicaudus COPE 1869 (fide PETERS et al. 1970: 138)
Gymnophthalmus speciosus — STUART 1939: 4
Gymnophthalmus laevicaudus — HUMMELINCK 1940: 86
Gymnophthalmus speciosus speciosus — MERTENS 1952: 56
Gymnopthalmus speciosus — NEMURAS 1967: 33 (in error)
Gymnophthalmus speciosus — PETERS et al. 1970: 138
Gymnophthalmus speciosus — PRESCH 1978
Gymnophthalmus speciosus — HARDY et al. 1989: 215
Gymnophthalmus speciosus — LINER 1994
Gymnophthalmus cf. speciosus — UGUETO & RIVAS 2010
Gymnophthalmus speciosus — MATA-SILVA et al. 2015
Gymnophthalmus cf. speciosus — GARCÍA-PÉREZ & SCHARGEL 2017
Gymnophthalmus aff. speciosus — SEÑARIS et al. 2018
Gymnophthalmus speciosus — MARTÍNEZ-FONSECA et al. 2024

Gymnophthalmus speciosus birdi STUART 1939
Gymnophthalmus birdi STUART 1939: 1
Gymnophthalmus speciosus birdi — MERTENS 1952: 56
Gymnophthalmus speciosus birdi — PETERS et al. 1970: 138
Gymnophthalmus speciosus birdi — MCCOY 1990

Gymnophthalmus speciosus sumichrasti COPE 1875
Epaphelus sumichrasti COPE 1875: 115
Epaphelus sumichrasti — COPE 1879: 270
Gymnophthalmus sumichrasti — GÜNTHER 1885: 29
Gymnophthalmus speciosus sumichrasti — STUART 1939: 5
Gymnophthalmus sumichrasti — SMITH & LANGEBARTEL 1949: 410
Gymnophthalmus sumichrasti — ÁLVAREZ DEL TORO & SMITH 1956: 12
Gymnophthalmus speciosus sumichrasti — STUART 1963
Gymnophthalmus speciosus sumichrasti — PETERS et al. 1970: 138 
DistributionS Mexico (Chiapas, Oaxaca), W Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela (Carabobo, Zulia etc.), Guyana,
Colombia (North Coast of Colombia; Magdalena and Cauca Valley Rivers, Valle del Cauca), Margarita I, Chacachacare Island, Aruba island (fide Hummelinck 1940)

Type locality: Nicaragua

birdi: Guatemala; Type locality: Guatemala, Baja Verapaz, Salamá Basin, 2 km S San Gerónimo.  
Reproductionoviparous; bisexual species (in contrast to G. underwoodi). 
TypesSyntype: MCZ R-5788
Holotype: UMMZ 84057 [birdi]
Holotype: USNM 30245-46; collected by F.E. Sumichrast. [sumichrasti] 
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 1728 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentDistribution: Chacachacare Island is off Trinidad. This species apparently has not been found on Trinidad itself. For a map see Maciel et al. 2021: 292 (Fig. 1).

Similar species (in the Yucatan Peninsula): No other lizard in the Yucatan Peninsula has only four digits on the hand. Gymnophthalmus speciosus superficially resembles Sphenomorphus cherriei but differs in having a transparent spectacle covering the eye.

Synonymy: Burt and Burt (1931: 339-41) synonymized laevicauds (= speciosus) and sumichrasti, “a rather serious error” according to Stuart 1939.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyThe name speciosus is Latin meaning ‘‘showy, splendid.’’ Hallowell (1861) gave no indication to what his name referred, but it probably refers to the handsome dorsal body and tail coloration (McCranie 2018: 377).

G. s. birdi was named after Mr. William Bird of Cobán, Alta Verapaz, a friend of Stuart.

G. s. sumichrasti was named after François Sumichrast, a 19th century Swiss naturalist. 
References
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