''Enyalioides groi'', known commonly as Gro's manticore, Dunn's spinytail iguana, or Dunn's spinytail 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 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 ...

Hoplocercidae Hoplocercidae are a family of lizards native to the tropical forests, woodlands and savanna-like habitats of Central and South America. Alternatively they are recognized as a subfamily, Hoplocercinae. 20 species in three genera are described. Sp ...

. The species is native to northwestern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

and

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

Etymology

The specific name, ''groi'', commemorates "Lord Gro", a character in the novel ''

The Worm Ouroboros ''The Worm Ouroboros'' is a heroic high fantasy novel by English writer E. R. Eddison, first published in 1922. The book describes the protracted war between the domineering King Gorice of Witchland and the Lords of Demonland in an imaginary ...

'' by E. R. Eddison. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Morunasaurus groi'', p. 109).

Geographic range

''E. groi'' is found in central Panama and in northwestern Colombia.

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 ''E. groi'' 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

The tail of ''E. groi'' is covered with small spines. Males are reddish-brown with dark brown transverse bands across the back, reaching to the middle of the sides and then breaking up into small, irregular dark spots. Small white spots occur between the dark bands above the first longitudinal row of tubercles. The neck is red, with an incomplete white collar three to five scales wide, extending somewhat obliquely from just ahead of the forearm upward to the scapular region; the collar is edged on both sides by dark brown. The head is reddish and the chin and infralabial region scarlet red. The gular area is dark grayish-brown, the chest is pale chrome orange, and the belly is dirty white. Adult females are essentially the same color, lacking the scarlet red in the infralabial region, and the belly is yellow.

Behavior

''E. groi'' lives in burrows it excavates itself, especially under fallen logs.

Reproduction

''E. groi'' is oviparous. www.reptile-database.org.

References

* Corredor, Vladimir; Renjifo, Juan Manuel; Ayala, Stephen C. (1985). "Discovery of ''Morunasaurus groi'' Dunn (Sauria, Iguanidae) in Northwestern Colombia". ''Journal of Herpetology'' 19 (1): 162–164

* Emmett Reid Dunn, Dunn ER (1933). "Amphibians and Reptiles from El Valle de Anton, Panama". ''Occasional Papers of the Boston Society of Natural History'' 8: 65–79. (''Morunasaurus'', new genus, pp. 75–76; ''Morunasaurus groi'', new species, pp. 76–77). * Köhler G (2008). ''Reptiles of Central America, 2nd Edition''. Offenbach, Germany: Herpeton Verlag. 400 pp. . (''Morunasaurus groi'', p. 82). * Torres-Carvajal, Omar; Werneck, Fernanda P.; Fernandes, Igor Yuri; de Queiroz, Kevin (2023). "Spiny tails and clades: A fully sampled phylogeny of hoplocercine lizards (Iguanidae/ Hoplocercinae) and its taxonomic and nomenclatural implications". ''Bulletin of Phylogenetic Nomenclature'' 1 (1): 8–28. (''Enyalioides groi'', new combination). Enyalioides Lizards of South America Reptiles of Colombia Reptiles of Panama Reptiles described in 1933 Taxa named by Emmett Reid Dunn {{lizard-stub