Kentropyx borckiana

Guyana kentropyx
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Sauria
Family: Teiidae
Genus: Kentropyx
Species: K. borckiana
Binomial name
Kentropyx borckiana
(W. Peters, 1869)
Synonyms
  • Centropyx borckiana
    W. Peters, 1869
  • Centropyx copii
    Garman, 1887
  • Gastropholis mertensi
    de Grijs, 1926
  • Kentropyx copei
    — Grant, 1959
  • Kentropyx borckianus
    — Hoogmoed, 1973
  • Kentropyx borckiana
    — Schwartz & Henderson, 1991[1]

Kentropyx borckiana, the Guyana kentropyx, is a species of lizard endemic to northeastern South America.

Geographic range

Kentropyx borckiana is found in Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, and on the Caribbean island of Barbados.

Parthenogenesis

The species is apparently a rare unisexual clone that reproduces through parthenogenesis, in that only 100 female museum specimens are known to exist and no male specimens. It is believed to have arisen from hybridization between Kentropyx calcarata and Kentropyx striata.

Etymology

The species was named after Johann Graf von Borcke (1781-1862), a major in the Prussian Army who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. Borcke presented a number of specimens to the Berlin Museum.

Description

Kentropyx borckiana grows up to 100 mm (3.9 in) snout-to-vent. Its head and neck are greenish, with white underneath. Its sides are brown, and its underbody is pinkish. Its dorsal surface is gray to pinkish-brown, with light lateral stripes bordered with dark bands.

Similar species

A population on Trinidad was originally thought to be K. borckiana, but has since been identified as another species.

References

  1. ↑ The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  • Cole, Charles J.; Dessauer, Herbert C.; Townsend, Carol R.; Arnold, Margaret G. (1995). Kentropyx borckiana (Squamata, Teiidae): a unisexual lizard of hybrid origin in the Guiana region, South America. American Museum Novitates No. 3145. New York: American Museum of Natural History. 
  • Malhotra, Anita; Thorpe, Roger S. (1999). Reptiles & Amphibians of the Eastern Caribbean. London: Macmillan Education Ltd. pp. 97–98. ISBN 0-333-69141-5. 
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