''Mesalina balfouri'' 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 sand-dwelling
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 ...
Lacertidae
The Lacertidae are the family (biology), 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 o ...
. 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
Socotra
Socotra or Soqotra (; ar, سُقُطْرَىٰ ; so, Suqadara) is an island of the Republic of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, under the ''de facto'' control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist participant in Yemen’s ...
.
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 ...
, ''balfouri'', is in honor of Scottish botanist
Isaac Bayley Balfour
Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour, KBE, FRS, FRSE (31 March 1853 – 30 November 1922) was a Scottish botanist. He was Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow from 1879 to 1885, Sherardian Professor of Botany at the University of Oxfor ...
.
[Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Mesalina balfouri'', p. 15).]
Habitat
The preferred
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 ...
s of ''M. balfouri'' are rocky areas and
shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally or be the result of human activity. It m ...
at altitudes of .
Reproduction
''M. balfouri'' 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
* Blanford WT (1881). "Notes on the Lizards collected in Socotra by Prof. I. Bayley Balfour". ''Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London'' 1881: 464–469. ("''Eremias (Mesalina) balfouri'' ", new species, pp. 467–469, Figure 2). (in English and Latin).
* Bütikofer L, Sacchi R, Pupin F, Pellitteri-Rosa D, Razzetti E, Pella F, Fasola M (2013). "Sexual dimorphism and allometry of the lacertid ''Mesalina balfouri'' (Blanford, 1881), endemic to the Archipelago of Socotra (Yemen)". ''Herpetozoa'' 25 (3/4): 101–108. (in English, with an abstract in German).
*Razzetti E, Sindaco R, Grieco C, Pella F, Ziliani U, Pupin F, Riservato E, Pellitteri-Rosa D, Bütikofer L, Suleiman AS, Al-Aseily BA, Carugati C, Boncompagni E, Fasola M (2011). "Annotated checklist and distribution of the Socotran Archipelago Herpetofauna (Reptilia)". ''Zootaxa'' 2826: 1-44. (''Mesalina balfouri'', p. 14).
balfouri
Reptiles described in 1881
Taxa named by William Thomas Blanford
Endemic fauna of Socotra
{{Lacertidae-stub