Ameiva

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ameiva
Ameiva ameiva male
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Teiidae
Genus: Ameiva
F. Meyer, 1795
Species

14, see text

Ameiva, commonly called jungle-runners, is a genus of whiptail lizards that belongs to the family Teiidae.

Geographic range[edit]

Member species of the genus Ameiva are found in South America, Central America and the Caribbean (West Indies). Their major habitat in four regions of Brazil include: Caatinga, Cerrado, the Amazonian rain forest, and the Amazonian savanna.[1] Additionally, Ameiva ameiva has been introduced to Florida in the United States.[2]

Species[edit]

Sourced from "The Reptile Database".[3]

Image Name Distribution
Ameiva aggerecusans Koch, Venegas, Rödder, Flecks & Böhme, 2013 Peru
Ameiva ameiva (Linnaeus, 1758) – giant ameiva, green ameiva, South American ground lizard, Amazon racerunner Central, South America, and some Caribbean Islands.
Ameiva atrigularis (Garman, 1887) – giant ameiva, Amazon racerunner Trinidad and Tobago and in Venezuela.
Ameiva bifrontata Cope, 1862 – Cope's ameiva Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba.
Ameiva concolor (Ruthven, 1924) Peru.
Ameiva fuliginosa (Cope, 1892) Isla de Providencia, San Andrés, and the Swan Islands.
Ameiva jacuba Giugliano, Nogueira, Valdujo, Collevatti & Colli, 2013 Brazil.
Ameiva nodam Koch, Venegas, Rödder, Flecks & Böhme, 2013 Peru.
Ameiva pantherina Ugueto & Harvey, 2011 Venezuela.
Ameiva parecis (Colli, Costa, Garda, Kopp, Mesquita, Péres, Valdujo, Vieira & Wiederhecker, 2003) Brazil.
Ameiva praesignis (Baird & Girard, 1852) – giant ameiva, Amazon racerunner Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, and Colombia.
Ameiva provitaae García-Pérez, 1995 Venezuela.
Ameiva reticulata Landauro, Garcia-Bravo & Venegas, 2015 Peru.
Ameiva tobagana Cope, 1879 – Antillean ameiva Grenada and St. Vincent.

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Ameiva.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Geographical ecology of a Neotropical lizard: AMeiva ameiva (Teiidae) in Brazil"
  2. ^ Conant R (1975). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. xviii + 429 pp. + Plates 1-48. ISBN 0-395-19979-4 (hardcover), ISBN 0-395-19977-8 (paperback). (Ameiva ameiva, pp. 120-121 + Plate 17 + Map 92).
  3. ^ Ameiva. The Reptile Database. http://www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading[edit]

  • Meyer FAA (1795). Synopsis reptilium, novam ipsorum sistens generum methodum, nec non Gottingensium huius ordinis animalium enumerationem. Göttingen: van den Hoek and Ruprecht. 32 pp. (Ameiva, new genus, p. 27). (in Latin).