''Liolaemus platei'', known by the common name braided tree iguana, is a species of lizard in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Liolaemidae Liolaemidae are a family of iguanian lizards. They are traditionally included in the Iguanidae as subfamily Liolaeminae, which some more recent authors prefer to delimit in a more restricted way. A common name for this group is liolaemids. Liolae ...

. 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 else ...

to Chile.

Geographic range and habitat

This

taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...

, ''L. platei'', is

to the

Chilean Matorral The Chilean Matorral (NT1201) is a terrestrial ecoregion of central Chile, located on the west coast of South America. It is in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome, part of the Neotropical realm. Matorral is typically charac ...

ecoregion, ranging from

Antofagasta Region The Antofagasta Region ( es, Región de Antofagasta, ) is one of Chile's sixteen first-order administrative divisions. The second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta, El Loa and Tocopilla. It is bordered t ...

in the north through the Atacama Region to the

Coquimbo Region The Coquimbo Region ( es, Región de Coquimbo, ) is one of Chile's 16 regions (first order administrative divisions). It is bordered by Atacama to the north, Valparaíso to the south, Argentina to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

in the south.

Taxonomy

''L. platei'' was described as a species new to science in the year 1898 by Austrian

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

Franz Werner Franz Josef Maria Werner (15 August 1867 in Vienna – 28 February 1939 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist and explorer. Specializing as a herpetologist and entomologist, Werner described numerous species and other taxa of frogs, snakes, inse ...

. '' Liolaemus curicensis'' was formerly considered a subspecies of ''L. platei''.

Etymology

The specific name, ''platei'', is in honor of German zoologist

Ludwig Hermann Plate Ludwig Hermann Plate (16 August 1862 – 16 November 1937) was a German zoologist and student of Ernst Haeckel. He wrote a "thorough and extensive defence" of Darwinism, but before Mendel's work had been assimilated in the modern synthesis. ...

.Beolens et al. 2011.

Conservation status

''L. platei'' is classified by the IUCN as Least Concern.

Reproduction

''L. platei'' is oviparous.

References

External links

*Hogan, C. Michael, & World Wildlife Fund (2013)
Chilean Matorral. Ed. Mark McGinley. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment
Washington DC.