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The Roque Chico de Salmor giant lizard (''Gallotia simonyi simonyi'') was the
nominate subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of the
lacertid
The Lacertidae are the family of the wall lizards, true lizards, or sometimes simply lacertas, which are native to Afro-Eurasia. It is a diverse family with at least 300 species in 39 genera. They represent the dominant group of reptiles found i ...
(wall
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 ...
) ''
Gallotia simonyi
''Gallotia simonyi'', also known as Simony's lizard, is a species of lacertid (wall lizard) that was found on many of the Canary Islands. The species was once present throughout much of the islands, but one of the two subspecies is extinct, whil ...
''. It was once present on a small islet near
El Hierro
El Hierro, nicknamed ''Isla del Meridiano'' (the "Meridian Island"), is the second-smallest and farthest-south and -west of the Canary Islands (an autonomous community of Spain), in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, with a populatio ...
in the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
.
''Gallotia simonyi simonyi'' was only known from Roque Chico de Salmor off northwestern
Valverde municipality, El Hierro. It disappeared around the 1930s through unsustainable collecting of animals for scientific institutions and commercial interests, as well as predation by feral cats and possibly
herring gulls Herring gull is a common name for several birds in the genus ''Larus'', all formerly treated as a single species.
Three species are still combined in some taxonomies:
* American herring gull (''Larus smithsonianus'') - North America
* European he ...
(Diaz & Bischoff 1994, Miras & Pérez-Mellado 2005).
See also
*
List of extinct animals of Europe
This list of European animals extinct in the Holocene features animals known to have become extinct in the last 12,000 years on the European continent and its surrounding islands.
Dependent territories of European countries in other continents, l ...
References
* Blanco, Juan Carlos & González, José Luis (eds.) (1992):
Libro rojo de los vertebrados de España'. ICONA, Madrid.
* Böhme, W. & Bings, Werner (1975): Zur Frage des Überlebens von ''Lacerta s. simonyi'' Steindachner. ''Salamandra'' 11(1): 39–46.
rticle in German* Diaz, Carlos Naeslund & Bischoff, Wolfgang (1994): Studien am Roque Chico de Salmor bei El Hierro (Kanaren): 1. Mögliche Ursachen für das Aussterben von ''Gallotia simonyi'', 2. Die Artzugehörigkeit seiner Geckos (''Tarentola''). ''Salamandra'' 30(4): 246–253. [Article in German
HTML abstract* European Environment Agency (2006)
European Nature Information System (EUNIS)Species Factsheet: ''Gallotia simonyi simonyi''
Downloaded on 24 Feb 2007.
* Maas, Peter H.J. (2006)
The Extinction Website
Extinctions in Europe. Downloaded on 18 May 2006.
* Database entry includes a range map and justification for why this species is critically endangered
Footnotes
External links
* lacerta.de
Contains several good photos of habitat on Roque Chico de Salmor. Retrieved 2007-FEB-25.
Gallotia
Extinct reptiles
Reptile extinctions since 1500
Lizards of Europe
Reptiles of the Canary Islands
El Hierro
Taxa named by Franz Steindachner
{{lacertidae-stub