Anadia Blakei
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''Anadia blakei'', also known commonly as Blake's anadia, is an
endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...
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
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 ...
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 ...
Gymnophthalmidae Gymnophthalmidae is a family of lizards with at least 250 species, sometimes known commonly as spectacled lizards or microteiids. They are called "spectacled" because of their transparent lower eyelids, which allow them to still see with closed ...
. The species 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
Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
.


Etymology

''A. blakei'' is named after American ornithologist Emmet "Bob" Reid Blake (1908–1997).


Geographic range

''A. blakei'' is found in the Venezuelan state of
Sucre Sucre () is the Capital city, capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the List of cities in Bolivia, 6th most populated city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . T ...
.


Habitat

The preferred 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. blakei'' is
forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
, at altitudes of .


Description

''A. blakei'' has 28 scales around the body at midbody. It is uniformly brown
dorsally Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...
, and paler ventrally. The
holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...
has a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of , and a broken, incomplete tail.
Schmidt Schmidt may refer to: * Schmidt (surname), including list of people with the surname * Schmidt (singer) (born 1990), German pop and jazz singer * Schmidt (lunar crater), a small lunar impact crater * Schmidt (Martian crater), a List of craters on ...
(1932).


Diet

''A. blakei''
preys Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...
upon
insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
s, insect
larva A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...
e, and
slug Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a smal ...
s.


Reproduction

''A. blakei'' is oviparous.


Conservation status

''A. blakei'' is considered "Endangered" because of its small geographic range, and because of ongoing habitat loss from
agricultural expansion Agricultural expansion describes the growth of agricultural land (arable land, pastures, etc.) especially in the 20th and 21st centuries. The agricultural expansion is often explained as a direct consequence of the global increase in food and ene ...
and construction of roads and communication antennae.


References


Further reading

* Myers CW, Rivas Fuenmayor G, Jadin RC (2009). "New Species of Lizards from Auyantepui and La Escalera in the Venezuelan Guayana, with Notes on "Microteiid" Hemipenes (Squamata: Gymnophthalmidae)". ''American Museum Novitates'' (3660): 1–31. (''Anadia blakei'', pp. 19–24, Figures 12–14, Table 3). (in English, with an abstract in Spanish). * Rivas GA, Molina CR, Ugueto GN, Barros TR, Barrio-Amorós CL, Kok PJR (2012). "Reptiles of Venezuela: an updated and commented checklist". ''Zootaxa'' 3211: 1–64. * Schmidt KP (1932). "Reptiles and Amphibians of the Mandel Venezuelan Expedition". ''Field Museum of Natural History, Zoological Series'' 18 (7): 159–163. (''Anadia blakei'', new species, pp. 161–162). Anadia (genus) Reptiles of Venezuela Endemic fauna of Venezuela Reptiles described in 1932 Taxa named by Karl Patterson Schmidt {{Gymnophthalmidae-stub