Bosc's Fringe-toed Lizard
Acanthodactylus boskianus
(Daudin, 1802)
A-kan-tho-DAK-ti-lus — bos-kee-AH-nus
SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
Newly listed species. Native to northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It is established in a small area of coastal Ventura County, California, by October 2023 (Hansen and Shedd. 2025, California Amphibians and Reptiles. Princeton University Press. 520 pp) (Los Angeles County Museum [LACM] 195828; California State University, Northridge [CSUN] 4259, 5831). An effort is underway to eradicate the species before it spreads further (Robert N. Fisher, USGS, San Diego, California, personal communication).
(Krysko, Kenneth and Travis W. Taggart. 2025. Established Exotic Species. Pages 64-87 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)
Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2024.03.31.21.32.45)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.16 MB
Province/State Distribution:
United States: California
Taxonomic Etymology:
A spiny-toed desert lizard Named after a French naturalist.
Acanthodactylus — From Greek akantha (ἄκανθα), “spine” or “thorn,” and dactylos (δάκτυλος), “finger” or “toe.” Refers to the fringed or spiny toes adapted for sandy environments—“spiny-fingered.”
boskianus — A patronym honoring Louis Augustin Guillaume Bosc (1759–1828), a French naturalist and diplomat who contributed extensively to early herpetology and taxonomy.
First instance(s) of published English names:
No historic English names have been assigned to this taxon yet.
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
The Reptile Database
GenBank
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database
Selected References:
|
1802 "1801"
|
Daudin, Francois M. Histoire naturelle des rainettes, des grenouilles et des crapauds. [Natural history of tree frogs, frogs and toads.] Quarto version. de L'imprimerie de Bertrandet, Rue de Sorbonne, Paris, France. 468pp.
|
|
2025
|
Hansen, Robert W. and Jackson D. Shedd. California Amphibians and Reptiles. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. 520pp.
|