''Harpesaurus modiglianii'', also known
commonly as Modigliani's nose-horned 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
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 ...
Agamidae
Agamidae is a family (biology), family of over 300 species of iguanian lizards indigenous to Africa, Asia, Australia, and a few in Southern Europe. Many species are commonly called dragons or dragon lizards.
Overview
phylogenetics, Phylogenetic ...
. 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
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
.
Etymology
The
specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
, ''modiglianii'', is honor of Italian botanist
Elio Modigliani
Elio Modigliani (13 June 1860 – 6 August 1932) was an Italian anthropologist, zoologist, explorer, and plant collector.
Biography
The son of a Florentine banker, he first made his name in the Italian scientific community at the age of 20, wh ...
.
Geographic range
''H. modiglianii'' is indigenous to northern
Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
, Indonesia.
[
]
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 ''H. modiglianii'' 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' ...
.[
]
Description
''H. modiglianii'' has a sickle-shaped upturned nasal appendage. Not including this appendage, 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 tail length of . Its nasal appendage is long.[ Vinciguerra (1933).]
Reproduction
''H. modiglianii'' is oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...
.[
]
References
Further reading
* Putra CA, Amarasinghe AAT, Hikmatullah D, Scali S, Brinkman J, Manthey U, Ineich I (2020). "Rediscovery of Modigliani's nose-horned lizard ''Harpesaurus modiglianii'' Vinciguerra, 1933 (Reptilia: Agamidae) after 129 years without any observation". ''Taprobanica'' 9 (1): 3–11 + Plates 1–3.
* Vinciguerra D (1933). "''Descrizione di una nuova specie di ''Harpesaurus'' di Sumatra''". ''Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria'' 56: 355–357. (''Harpesaurus modiglianii'', new species). (in Italian).
Harpesaurus
Reptiles of Indonesia
Reptiles described in 1933
Taxa named by Decio Vinciguerra
Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN
{{agamidae-stub