''Ameiva'', commonly called jungle-runners, is a
genus of whiptail
lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
s that belongs to the
family Teiidae.
Geographic range
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.
Additionally, ''
Ameiva ameiva'' has been
introduced to
Florida in the
United States.
Species
Sourced from "The Reptile Database".
''Ameiva''
The Reptile Database. http://www.reptile-database.org.
'' Nota bene'': A binomial authority
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Ameiva''.
References
Further reading
* 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).
External links
Lizard genera
Taxa named by Friedrich Albrecht Anton Meyer
{{Lizard-stub