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Xenosaurus grandis (GRAY, 1856)

IUCN Red List - Xenosaurus grandis - Vulnerable, VU
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Higher TaxaXenosauridae, Diploglossa, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Knob-scaled Lizard 
SynonymCubina grandis GRAY 1856: 270
Xenosaurus fasciatus PETERS 1861: 453
Xenosaurus grandis — COPE 1867: 322
Xenosaurus grandis — BOULENGER 1885: 250
Xenosaurus rackhami STUART 1941 (fide VILLA et al. 1988)
Xenosaurus grandis — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 208
Xenosaurus rackhami — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 208
Xenosaurus grandis — LINER 1994
Xenosaurus grandis — PÉREZ RAMOS et al. 2000
Xenosaurus grandis — WOOLRICH-PIÑA & SMITH 2012
Xenosaurus grandis — NIETO-MONTES DE OCA et al. 2016
Xenosaurus grandis — NIETO-MONTES DE OCA et al. 2022 
DistributionMexico (Veracruz, Puebla)

Type locality: Mexico, near Cordova [= Cordoba, Veracruz]  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.8.30.21-23 (formally 56.4.17.7-9) 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (513 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSubspecies: Xenosaurus grandis agrenon, rackhami, arboreus, and sanmartinensis have been elevated to full species status. King and Thompson (1968) reported intergrades between X. g. grandis and X. g. rackhami from several localities in north-central Oaxaca.

Distribution: see maps in WOOLRICH-PIÑA & SMITH 2012 and Nieto-Montes de Oca et al. 2022: 48 (Fig. 6).

Type species: Xenosaurus fasciatus PETERS 1861 is the type species of the genus Xenosaurus PETERS 1861. Xenosaurus PETERS 1861 is the type species of the family Xenosauridae. 
EtymologyThe name grands apparently refers to this species' "large, splendid, or stately" appearance.

The genus name is derived from the Greek words xenos, meaning "stranger or guest" and saurus, meaning "lizard." When this lizard was discovered, the name presumably was applied in reference to its odd appearance, compared to that of other lizard species in the area (Lemos-Espinal & Dixon 2013). 
References
  • Augstenová, Barbora, Eleonora Pensabene, Lukáš Kratochvíl, and Michail Rovatsos. 2021. Cytogenetic Evidence for Sex Chromosomes and Karyotype Evolution in Anguimorphan Lizards. Cells 10, no. 7: 1612 - get paper here
  • Ballinger, R.E., G.R. Smith, and J.A. Lemos-Espinal 2000. Xenosaurus (Gray) Knob-scaled Lizards. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (712): 1-3 - get paper here
  • Ballinger,R.E.,J.A.Lemos-Espinal, and G.R. Smith 2000. Xenosaurus grandis (Gray) Knob-scaled Lizard. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (713): 1-4 - get paper here
  • Barrows, Shirley;Smith, Hobart M. 1947. The skeleton of the lizard Xenosaurus grandis (Gray). Univ. Kansas Sci. Bull. 31 (12): 227-281 - get paper here
  • Bhullar, B-A. S. 2011. The Power and Utility Of Morphological Characters In Systematics: A Fully Resolved Phylogeny of Xenosaurus and Its Fossil Relatives (Squamata: Anguimorpha). Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 160 (3): 65–181 - 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
  • Camarillo R., José L. 1990. Xenosaurus grandis en el Estado de Hidalgo, México. Boletín de la Sociedad Herpetológica Mexicana 2 (2): 17-18 - get paper here
  • Casas-Andreu, G., F.R. Méndez-De la Cruz and X. Aguilar-Miguel. 2004. Anfibios y Reptiles; pp. 375–390, in A.J.M. García-Mendoza, J. Ordoñez and M. Briones-Salas (ed.). Biodiversidad de Oaxaca. Instituto de Biología, UNAM-Fondo Oaxaqueño para la Conservación de la Naturaleza-World Wildlife Fund, México, D. F.
  • Cázares-Hernández, E., C. U. Urbano-Tórrez, A. Lázaro- Vázquez, and H. D. Jimeno-Sevilla. 2017. Xenosaurus grandis (Gray, 1856). Diet (predation on Aquiloeurycea). Mesoamerican Herpetology 4(4): 931–933 - get paper here
  • Cope, E.D. 1867. Fifth contribution lo the herpetology of tropical America. Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philadelphia, 18 [1866]: 317-323 - get paper here
  • Fritts, T.H. 1966. Notes on the reproduction of Xenosaurus grandis (Squamata: Xenosauridae) Copeia 1966 (3): 598. - get paper here
  • Gray,J.E. 1856. Notice of a new species of nocturnal lizard from Mexico. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (2) 18: 270 - get paper here
  • Günther, A. C. L. G. 1885. Reptilia and Batrachia. Biologia Centrali-Américana. Taylor, & Francis, London, 326 pp. [published in parts from 1885-1902; reprint by the SSAR 1987] - get paper here
  • Haas, Georg 1960. On the trigeminus muscles of the lizards Xenosaurus grandis and Shinisaurus crocodilurus. American Museum novitates (2017) - get paper here
  • Johnson, J. D., L. D. Wilson, V. Mata-Silva, E. García-Padilla, and D. L. DeSantis. 2017. The endemic herpetofauna of Mexico: organisms of global significance in severe peril. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4(3): 544–620 - get paper here
  • King, F. W., & THOMPSON, F. G. 1968. A review of the American lizards of the genus Xenosaurus Peters. Bulletin of the Florida State Museum 12: 93-123. - get paper here
  • Köhler, G. 2000. Reptilien und Amphibien Mittelamerikas, Bd 1: Krokodile, Schildkröten, Echsen. Herpeton Verlag, Offenbach, 158 pp.
  • Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd Ed. Herpeton-Verlag, 400 pp.
  • Lara-Góngora, G. 1986. New distributional records for some Mexican reptiles and amphibians. Bull. Maryland Herp. Soc. 22 (2): 62-67 - get paper here
  • Lemos-Espinal, J.A., G.R. Smith & R.E. Ballinger 2003. Ecology of Xenosaurus grandis agrenon, a Knob-Scaled Lizard from Oaxaca, Mexico Journal of Herpetology 37 (1): 192-196. - get paper here
  • Lynch, John D.; Smith, Hobart M. 1965. A new species of Xenosaurus (Reptilia: Xenosauridae) from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 68 (1): 163-172 - get paper here
  • Macey, J.R. 1999. Molecular phylogenetics, tRNA evolution, and historical biogeography in anguid lizards and related taxonomic families. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 12 (3): 250-272 - get paper here
  • Mata-Silva, Vicente, Jerry D. Johnson, Larry David Wilson and Elí García-Padilla. 2015. The herpetofauna of Oaxaca, Mexico: composition, physiographic distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (1): 6–62 - get paper here
  • Molina-Zuluaga, Claudia, Paul F. Doherty, J. Jaime Zúñiga-Vega, and J. Gastón Zamora-Abrego 2013. Survivorship, Growth, and Detection of a Knob-scaled Lizard in Queretaro, Mexico. Journal of Herpetology Mar 2013, Vol. 47, No. 1: 156-161. - get paper here
  • Muñoz-Alonso, Luis Antonio; Jorge Nieblas-Camacho,<br>Marina Alba Chau-Cortez, Alondra Berenice González-Navarro, Jaime López-Pérez & Juan Pérez-López 2017. Diversidad de anfibios y reptiles en la Reservade la Biosfera Selva El Ocote: su vulnerabilidad ante la fragmentación y el cambio climático. In: Lorena Ruiz-Montoya et al. (eds), Vulnerabilidad social y biológica ante el cambio climático en la Re El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, pp.395-448 - get paper here
  • Nieto-Montes de Oca A, Sánchez-Vega H, Durán-Fuentes I 2018. A new species of knob-scaled lizard (Xenosauridae, Xenosaurus) from the Sierra Madre Oriental of Puebla, Mexico. ZooKeys 737: 141-160 - get paper here
  • Nieto-Montes de Oca, Adrián; Anthony J. Barley, Rubi N. Meza-Lázaro, Uri O. García-Vázquez, Joan G. Zamora-Abrego, Robert C. Thomson, Adam D. Leaché 2016. Phylogenomics and species delimitation in the knob-scaled lizards of the genus Xenosaurus (Squamata: Xenosauridae) using ddRADseq data reveal a substantial underestimation of diversity. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 106: 241-253 - get paper here
  • Nieto-Montes de Oca, Adrián; Nicté Castresana-Villanueva, Luis Canseco-Márquez & Jonathan A. Campbell 2022. A New Species of Xenosaurus (Squamata: Xenosauridae) from the Sierra de Juárez of Oaxaca, Mexico Herpetologica 78(1): 40–50. - get paper here
  • Nieto-Montes de Oca, Adrián; Uri O. García-Vázquez, J. Jaime Zúñiga-Vega and Walter Schmidt-Ballardo 2013. A new species of Xenosaurus (Squamata: Xenosauridae) from the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve of Querétaro, Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 84: 485-498 - get paper here
  • Pérez Ramos, Edmundo; Lucia Saldaña de la Riva; Jonathan A. Campbell 2000. A new allopatric species of Xenosaurus (Squamata: Xenosauridae) from Guerrero, Mexico. Herpetologica 56 (4): 500-506 - get paper here
  • Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig 1861. Eine neue Gattung von Eidechsen, Xenosaurus fasciatus aus Mexico. Monatsber. königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin. 1861 (April): 453-454 - get paper here
  • Phillips, C.A. 2003. HERPETOLOGICAL TYPE-SPECIMENS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: AN UPDATE TO THE PRIMARY TYPES. [type catalogue] University of Illinois Museum of Natural History, 17 pp.
  • Stuart,L.C. 1941. A new species of Xenosaurus from Guatemala. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 54: 47-48. - get paper here
  • Torres-Hernández, LA, Ramírez-Bautista A, Cruz-Elizalde R, Hernández-Salinas U, Berriozabal-Islas C, DeSantis DL, Johnson JD, Rocha A, García-Padilla E, Mata-Silva V, Fucsko LA, and Wilson LD. 2021. The herpetofauna of Veracruz, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 15(2) [General Section]: 72–155 - get paper here
  • Vásquez-Cruz, V; Léon-López, E; Kelly-Hernández, A & Pérez-Gámez, E M; 2019. Xenosaurus grandis (Knob-scaled Lizard) Eye color variant. Herpetological Review 50 (1): 147-148 - get paper here
  • Vásquez-Cruz, Víctor; Luis Canseco-Márquez 2020. AMPHIBIAN AND REPTILES OF THE COLONIA AGRÍCOLA RINCÓN DE LAS FLORES, TEZONAPA, VERACRUZ, MEXICO. Rev. Latinoamer. Herp. 3 (1): 66-80 - get paper here
  • Werler, John E. & Shannon, Frederick A. 1961. Two new lizards (genera Abronia and Xenosaurus) from the Los Tuxtlas Range of Veracruz, Mexico. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 64 (2): 123-132 - get paper here
  • Woolrich-Piña, G. A., E. García-Padilla, D. L. DeSantis, J. D. Johnson, V. Mata-Silva, and L. D. Wilson 2017. The herpetofauna of Puebla, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation status. Mesoamerican Herpetology 4(4): 791–884 - get paper here
  • Woolrich-Piña, Guillermo A. and Geoffrey R. Smith 2012. A New Species of Xenosaurus from the Sierra Madre Oriental, Mexico. Herpetologica 68 (4): 551-559. - get paper here
  • Zúñiga-Vega, J.J., R.I. Rojas-González, J.A. Lemos-Espinal & M.E. Pérez-Trejo 2005. Growth Ecology of the Lizard Xenosaurus grandis in Veracruz, México Journal of Herpetology 39 (3): 433-443. - get paper here
  • Zúñiga-Vega, J.J., T. Valverde, R.I. Rojas-González & J.A. Lemos-Espinal 2007. Analysis of the Population Dynamics of an Endangered Lizard (Xenosaurus Grandis) through the Use of Projection Matrices Copeia 2007 (2): 324-335. - get paper here
 
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