Plica caribeana MURPHY & JOWERS, 2013
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Higher Taxa | Tropiduridae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
Subspecies | |
Common Names | E: Caribbean treerunner |
Synonym | Plica caribeana MURPHY & JOWERS 2013: 59 Hypsibatus agamoides – COURT 1858: 440 Uraniscodon plica – BOULENGER 1885, 2: 180 (in part) Plica plica – BURT & BURT 1931: 282 (in part) Tropidurus plica – FROST 1992: 1 (in part) |
Distribution | Venezuela (eastern Coastal Range: Cordillera de la Costa Oriental, south into Bolivar); Trinidad, the Bocas Islands (Huevos, Monos, and Gaspar Grande); Tobago (Murphy and Downie 2012). Type locality: Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, Trinidad: San Rafael (~10°34'N; 61°16'W). |
Reproduction | oviparous, 2 eggs per clutch (MURPHY & JOWERS 2013) |
Types | Holotype: FMNH 49838, an adult female, 110 mm SVL, 172 mm tail. Collected in 1947 by Frank Wonder. |
Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A Plica with dorsal scales in 92–125 (usually 110–125) rows at midbody; scales on snout imbricate and keeled; dorsolateral and ventrolateral folds well developed; head length 21–22% of the SVL; one longitudinal dewlap fold; and a dorsal pattern of black and green transverse bands. Plica plica has 126–140 dorsal scale rows at mid body and two longitudinal dewlap folds. The middle Orinoco species, P. rayi sp. n. has 180–202 scale rows at mid-body; flat, juxtaposed scales on the snout; and the ventrolateral fold is weakly spinose. The Sierra Acarai Mountain's (Guyana) P. kathleenae sp. n. has 158 scale rows around mid-body; head 29% of SVL; and lacks gular mite pockets (all other species have them). The species from southern Meta, Colombia P. medemi sp. n., has 145 scale rows at mid-body, and a dorsal pattern of six rows of small, bold, dark, irregular spots. The two species, associated with the Venezuelan tepuis (P. lumaria and P. pansticta) have a higher number of scale rows at mid-body (141–164) and smooth scales on the snout. |
Comment | Habitat: forest and forest-edges, most frequently observed on tree-trunks, rock walls, walls of caves, and buildings. Diet: a large percentage of the diet of this species (10-30%) consists of ants (Lucas et al. 2023). |
Etymology | Named for its Caribbean Coastal Range distribution. |
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