''Abronia ornelasi'', Ornelas's arboreal alligator lizard or Cerro Baul alligator lizard, is a
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of
arboreal alligator lizard in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Anguidae
Anguidae refers to a large and diverse family of lizards native to the Northern Hemisphere. Common characteristics of this group include a reduced supratemporal arch, striations on the medial faces of tooth crowns, osteoderms, and a lateral fold ...
. The species, which was originally described in 1984 by
Jonathan A. Campbell
Jonathan Atwood Campbell (born May 13, 1947) is an American herpetologist.
He is currently professor of biology at University of Texas at Arlington. He was a distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Biology, University of Texas at ...
, is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to southern
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
.
Etymology
The
specific name, ''ornelasi'', is in honor of Julio Ornelas Martinez who assisted Campbell in fieldwork in Mexico.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Abronia ornelasi'', p. 196).]
Geographic range
''A. ornelasi'' is found in the Mexican state of
Oaxaca
Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...
.
[. www.reptile-database.org.]
Habitat
The natural
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
of ''A. ornelasi'' is
cloud forest
A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...
at altitudes of .
[
]
Reproduction
''A. ornelasi'' is viviparous
Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. This is opposed to oviparity which is a reproductive mode in which females lay developing eggs that complete their development and hatch externally from the m ...
.[
]
References
Further reading
* Campbell JA (1984). "A New Species of ''Abronia'' (Sauria: Anguidae) with Comments on the Herpetogeography of the Highlands of Southern Mexico". ''Herpetologica'' 40 (4): 373–381. (''Abronia ornelasi'', new species).
*Campbell JA, Frost DR (1993). "Anguid lizards of the genus ''Abronia'': revisionary notes, descriptions of four new species, a phylogenetic analysis, and key". ''Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History'' (216): 1–121.
* Casas-Andreu G, Méndez-de la Cruz FR, Aguilar-Miguel X (2004). "''Anfibios y Reptiles'' ". pp. 375–390. ''In'': García-Mendoza AJ, Ordóñez Díaz MJ, Briones-Salas M (editors) (2004). ''Biodiversidad de Oaxaca''. México, Distrito Federal: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Biología World Wildlife Fund; Oaxaca, Oaxaca: Fondo Oaxaqueño para la Conservación de la Naturaleza. 605 pp. . (in Spanish).
* Mata-Silva V, Johnson JD, Wilson LD, García-Padilla E (2015). "The herpetofauna of Oaxaca, Mexico: composition, physiographic distribution, and conservation status". ''Mesoamerican Herpetology'' 2 (1): 6-62.
Abronia
Reptiles described in 1984
Endemic reptiles of Mexico
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