Sceloporus zosteromus COPE, 1863

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Higher Taxa	Phrynosomatidae, Sceloporinae, Iguania, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Central Baja Spiny Lizard, Monserrat Island Spiny Lizard S: Bejori del Centro Peninsular [monserratensis] E: Red-backed Spiny Lizard, Mexican Desert Spiny Lizard [rufidorsum] S: Bejori de Espalda Roja [rufidorsum] E: Baja Spiny Lizard, San Lucan Spiny Lizard [zosteromus] S: Bejori de San Lucas [zosteromus]
Synonym	Sceloporus zosteromus COPE 1863: 105 Sceloporus rufidorsum YARROW 1882 Sceloporus zosteromus — BOULENGER 1885: 225 Sceloporus zosteromus —VAN DENBURGH 1895: 108 Sceloporus monserratensis VAN DENBURGH & SLEVIN 1921: 396 Sceloporus magister zosteromus — LINSDALE 1932 Sceloporus magister rufidorsum — LINSDALE 1932 Sceloporus magister rufidorsum — SMITH 1939: 161 Sceloporus magister zosteromus — SMITH 1939: 170 Sceloporus magister monserratensis — SMITH 1939: 165 Sceloporus magister monserratensis — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 115 Sceloporus magister zosteromus — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 115 Sceloporus magister rufidorsum — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 442 Sceloporus magister rufidorsum — ZWEIFEL 1958 Sceloporus magister zosteromus — LEVITON & BANTA 1964 Sceloporus magister rufidorsum — STEBBINS 1985: 128 Sceloporus magister zosteromus — STEBBINS 1985: 128 Sceloporus magister monserratensis — STEBBINS 1985: 128 Sceloporus monserratensis — LINER 1994 Sceloporus rufidorsum — LINER 1994 Sceloporus zosteromus — LINER 1994 Sceloporus zosteromus — GRISMER & MCGUIRE 1996 Sceloporus zosteromus — GRISMER & MCGUIRE 1996 Sceloporus zosteromus monserratensis — BELL et al. 2003 Sceloporus zosteromus zosteromus — BELL et al. 2003 Sceloporus zosteromus rufidorsum — BELL et al. 2003 Sceloporus zosteromus rufidorsum — LEACHÉ & MULCAHY 2007 Sceloporus zosteromus rufidorsum — LINER & CASAS-ANDREU 2008 Sceloporus zosteromus zosteromus — LINER & CASAS-ANDREU 2008 Sceloporus zosteromus monserratensis — LINER & CASAS-ANDREU 2008 Sceloporus zosteromus — HEIMES 2022 Sceloporus zosteromus — PAVÓN-VÁZQUEZ et al. 2024
Distribution	Mexico (Cape region of Lower California = Baja California) monserratensis: Mexico (Baja California, southern edge of the Vizcaino Desert, southward to the southern end of the Sierra de la Gigante; islands adjacent to the coast except Santa Catalina); Type Locality: Monserrate Island, Gulf of California, Mexico. rufidorsum: Mexico (N Baja California, Cedros Island, Coronados Island); Type Locality: San Quintín Bay, Baja California, Mexico. Type locality: Cape San Lucas, Baja California
Reproduction	oviparous
Types	Syntypes: USNM 5298; 69472-69488, INHS (= UIMNH) Type: CAS 50509, collected 24 May 1921 by J. R. Slevin [monserratensis] Holotype: USNM 11981, collected in 1882 by L. Belding, macerated, only bones left (Cochran, 1961) [rufidorsum]
Diagnosis	Diagnosis (zosteromus): Smith 1939: 170
Comment	Belongs to the S. magister complex. Grismer and McGuire (1996) concluded that an interbreeding continuity of populations, often referred to as S. monserratensis, S. rufidorsum, and S. zosteromus, extends throughout most of Baja California; hence they are conspecific (as was thought by Smith, 1939). Grismer (2002) regarded the three populations as pattern classes rather than subspecies. Pavón-Vázquez et al. 2024 found that S. z. zosteromus and S. z. monserratensis are not evolutionarily independent. In contrast, S. z. rufidorsum appears to be divergent. However, given their limited sample sizes and previously published patterns of morphological and molecular variation (Grismer and McGuire 1996), they treat S. zosteromus as monotypic, without having valid subspecies. Distribution: see Pavón-Vázquez et al. 2024 (Fig.1) for a map, including the formerly recognized subspecies.
Etymology	Etymology (monserratensis): This taxon is named for its island type locality. Etymology (rufidorsum): The Latin nouns rufus, "red, reddish," and dorsum, "back" refer to the rusty-red dorsal stripe. Etymology (zosteromus): The Greek zoster, "belt or girdle," and the Latin suffix –ome, "pertaining to the nature of," refer to the black inguinal blotches anterior to the thighs, connecting with black areas on the venter.
References	Bell, E.L.; Smith, H.M. & Chiszar, D. 2003. AN ANNOTATED LIST OF THE SPECIES-GROUP NAMES APPLIED TO THE LIZARD GENUS SCELOPORUS. Acta Zoologica Mexicana (n.s.) 90: 103-174 - 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 Cope, E.D. 1863. Descriptions of new American Squamata in the Museum of the Smtihsonian Institution. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 15 [1863]: 100-106 - get paper here Goldberg, Stephen R. 2014. Sceloporus zosteromus (Baja spiny lizard) reproduction. Herpetological Review 45 (1): 135 - get paper here Grismer, L. L. 2002. Amphibians and reptiles of Baja California, including its pacific islands and the islands in the Sea of Cortés. Univ. California Press, Berkeley: 399 pp. - get paper here Grismer, L. L. & J. A. MCGUIRE 1996. Taxonomy and biogeography of the Sceloporus magister complex (Squamata: Phrynosomatidae) in Baja California, México. Herpetologica 52 (3): 416-427. - get paper here Heimes, P. 2022. LIZARDS OF MEXICO - Part 1 Iguanian lizards. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt Am Main, 448 pp. Jones, L.L. & Lovich, R.E. 2009. Lizards of the American Southwest. A photographic field guide. Rio Nuevo Publishers, Tucson, AZ, 568 pp. [review in Reptilia 86: 84] - get paper here Köhler, G. & Heimes, P. 2002. Stachelleguane. Herpeton-Verlag (Offenbach), 174 pp. Leaché, A.D. 2010. Species trees for spiny lizards (Genus Sceloporus): Identifying points of concordance and conflict between nuclear and mitochondrial data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 54: 162–171 - get paper here Leaché, A.D. & J.W.Sites, Jr. 2009. Chromosome Evolution and Diversification in North American Spiny Lizards (Genus Sceloporus). Cytogenet Genome Res 127: 166-181 - get paper here Leaché, A.D. & Mulcahy, D.G. 2007. Phylogeny, divergence times and species limits of spiny lizards (Sceloporus magister species group) in western North American deserts and Baja California. Molecular Ecology 16: 5216–5233 - get paper here Leviton, Alan E.; Banta, Benjamin H. 1964. Midwinter reconnaissance of the herpetofauna of the Cape Region of Baja California, Mexico. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 30 (7): 127-156 - get paper here Linsdale, J.M. 1932. Amphibians and reptiles from lower California. Univ. California Publ. Zool. 38 (6): 345-386 Mocquard, M.F. 1899. Contribution a la faune herpétologique de la Basse-Californie. Nouv. Arch. Mus. Hist. Natur.Paris, 4th Series, Vol. 1: 297-343 + plates XI-XIII - get paper here Parker W S 1982. Sceloporus magister Hallowell. Desert spiny lizard. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (290): 1-4 - get paper here Pavón-Vázquez, C. J., Rana, Q., Farleigh, K., Crispo, E., Zeng, M., Liliah, J., ... & Blair, C. 2024. Gene Flow and Isolation in the Arid Nearctic Revealed by Genomic Analyses of Desert Spiny Lizards. Systematic Biology, syae001 Peralta-García A, Valdez-Villavicencio JH, Fucsko LA, Hollingsworth BD, Johnson JD, Mata-Silva V, Rocha A, DeSantis DL, Porras LW, and Wilson LD. 2023. The herpetofauna of the Baja California Peninsula and its adjacent islands, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 17(1&2): 57–142 Schulte II, James A.; J. Robert Macey and Theodore J. Papenfuss 2006. A genetic perspective on the geographic association of taxa among arid North American lizards of the Sceloporus magister complex (Squamata: Iguanidae: Phrynosomatinae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39 (3): 873-880 - get paper here Smith, H. M. 1939. The Mexican and Central American lizards of the genus Sceloporus. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Zool. Ser. 26: 1-397. - get paper here Stebbins,R.C. 1985. A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, Boston Valdez-Villavicencio, Jorge Heriberto; Anny Peralta-García 2020. FIRST RECORD OF NECROPHILIA IN THE BAJA CALIFORNIA SPINY LIZARD, Sceloporus zosteromus (Phrynosomatidae). Rev. Latinoamer. Herp. 3 (1): 116-117 - get paper here Van Denburgh, J.; Slevin, J. R. 1921. Preliminary diagnoses of more new species of reptiles from islands in the gulf of California, Mexico. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (4) 11 (17): 395-398 - get paper here Van Denburgh,J. 1895. A review of the herpetology of Lower California. Part I - Reptiles. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (2) 5: 77-163 - get paper here Yarrow, H.C. 1882. Description of new species of reptiles and amphibians in the US National Museum. Proc. US Natl. Mus. 5: 438-443 - get paper here Zweifel, Richard G. 1958. Results of the Puritan-American Museum of Natural History Expedition to western Mexico 2. Notes on reptiles and amphibians from the Pacific Coastal Islands of Baja California. American Museum Novitates (1895): 1-17 - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information http://www.uga.edu/srelherp/jd/jdweb/Herps/species/Forlizards/Scezos.htm Google images

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