Aspidoscelis motaguae
Sackett, 1941
as-pid-OSS-uh-lis — mo-TAH-gwah-eye
SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
Native to Mexico south to Nicaragua. It was introduced during the 1980s and established in Hialeah and Opa-Locka, Miami-Dade County, Florida (Bartlett, 1995, U.S. Tropical Fish Hobbyist 43: 112, 114–119, 121–122, 124–126; Meshaka et al., 2004, The Exotic Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida). It has since been found at other localities in Miami-Dade County (Smith and Krysko, 2007, Caribbean Journal of Science 43: 260–265) and Summerland Key, Monroe County (Enge et al., 2015, Herpetological Review 46: 567; Enge and Krysko, 2019, Aspidoscelis motaguae. Pages 428–429 in Krysko et al. (Editors) Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida).
(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.)
Errata/Changes: Page 73: The authority "Sackett, 1941" should be in parentheses since this taxon was originally described in the genus Cnemidophorus. — (4/9/2025)
Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2023.04.08.10.30.47)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.04 MB
Province/State Distribution:
Taxonomic Etymology:
A Central American whiptail lizard associated with the Motagua Valley in Guatemala.
Aspidoscelis — From Greek meaning “shield leg.”
motaguae — Latinized reference to the Motagua River or Valley in Guatemala, indicating its geographic range.
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:
|
1931
|
Burt, Charles E. A study of the teiid lizards of the genus Cnemidophorus with special reference to their phylogenetic relationships. Bulletin of the United States National Museum (154):1-286
|
|
1941
|
Sackett, J. Townsend. Philadelphia. Part II.- A new Teiid lizard of the genus Cnemidophorus. Notulae Naturae (77):1-4
|
|
1962
|
Duellman, William E. and Richard G. Zweifel. A synopsis of the lizards of the sexlineatus group (Genus Cnemidophorus). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 123(3):155-210
|
|
1970
|
Gorman, George C. Chromosomes and the systematics of the family Teiidae (Sauria, Reptilia). Copeia 1970(2):230-245
|
|
2002
|
Reeder, Tod W., Charles J. Cole, and Herbert C. Dessauer. Phylogenetic relationships of Whiptail lizards of the genus Cnemidophorus (Squamata: Teiidae): A test of monophyly, reevaluation of karyotypic evolution, and review of hybrid origins. American Museum Novitates (3365):1-61
|
|
2007
|
Smith, Catherine A. and Krysko, Kenneth L. Distributional comments on the Teiid Lizards (Squamata: Teiidae) of Florida with a key to species. Caribbean Journal of Science 43(2):260-265
|