''Xantusia gilberti'', also known
commonly as the Baja California night lizard and ''la nocturna de Baja California'' in Mexican Spanish, 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 small
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 ...
Xantusiidae. The species is native to the southern
Baja California Peninsula of
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
.
Etymology
The
specific name, ''gilberti'', is in honor of American ichthyologist
Charles Henry Gilbert
Charles Henry Gilbert (December 5, 1859 in Rockford, Illinois – April 20, 1928 in Palo Alto, California) was a pioneer ichthyologist and Fisheries science, fishery biologist of particular significance to natural history of the western Unit ...
.
Description
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 ...
of ''X. gilberti'' has a
snout-to-vent length (SVL) of about , and a tail length about equal to SVL. The eye is very small, with a vertical pupil. There are nine femoral pores on one leg and eight on the other.
[ Van Denburgh (1895).]
Reproduction
''X. gilberti'' is
viviparous
Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. This is opposed to oviparity which is a reproductive mode in which females lay developing eggs that complete their development and hatch externally from the m ...
.
[
]
References
Further reading
* Savage JM (1952). "Studies on the Lizard Family Xantusiidae I. The Systematic Status of the Baja California Night Lizards Allied to ''Xantusia vigilis'', with the Description of a New Subspecies". ''American Midland Naturalist'' 48 (2): 467–479. (''Xantusia vigilis gilberti'', new taxonomic status).
* Sinclair EA, Bezy RL, Bolles K, Camarillo JL, Crandall KA, Sites JW (2004). "Testing Species Boundaries in an Ancient Species Complex with Deep Phylogeographic History: Genus ''Xantusia'' (Squamata: Xantusiidae)". ''American Naturalist'' 164 (3): 396–414. (''Xantusia gilberti)''.
* Van Denburgh J (1895). "A Review of the Herpetology of Lower California. Part I — Reptiles". ''Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Second Series'' 5: 77–163 + Plates IV–XIV. (''Xantusia gilberti'', new species, pp. 121–122 + Plate XI, figures A–F).
Xantusia
Endemic reptiles of Mexico
Endemic fauna of the Baja California Peninsula
Reptiles described in 1895
Taxa named by John Van Denburgh
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