Tenerife Lizard
| Gallotia galloti | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Southern Tenerife lizard (Gallotia galloti galloti) male (top) and female |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Lacertidae |
| Genus: | Gallotia |
| Species: | G. galloti |
| Binomial name | |
|
Gallotia galloti Oudart, 1839 |
|
Gallotia galloti (Gallot's lizard,Tenerife lizard, or Western Canaries lizard) is a species of lacertid (wall lizard) in the genus Gallotia. The species is found on the Canary Islands of Tenerife and La Palma.
Both the generic name, Gallotia, and the specific name, galloti, are in honor of D. Gallot, an amateur naturalist, who collected the type specimen.
Four subspecies are recognized:
The large differences in colour pattern in adult males seems to have been the basis for the recognition of the Northern and Southern "subspecies". The northern form is found at low-mid altitudes on the north-facing slopes, while the southern form is found above the pine forest on the north facing slopes and the southern slopes of Tenerife. A recent genomics study has identified nuclear DNA differences between these regions, although they only seem to be found in small number of loci[1].
Its closest relative is the smaller Boettger's lizard, which occurs on El Hierro and La Gomera (Maca-Meyer et al. 2003). G. galloti is a sizeable lizard, though with strong males reaching up to 15.7 inches (including tail) it still belongs to the smaller Gallotia as the giant species can reach up to double that length.
Unlike most larger species of its genus, the Western Canaries lizard as a whole is a common animal. As it likes to eat ripe fruit, it can even become a nuisance in vineyards and orchards and is thus occasionally trapped or poisoned. Local populations thus may decline, but no subspecies currently are endangered. Due to its small area of occurrence, G. g. insulanagae is considered a vulnerable taxon, but it seems safe at present as its habitat is fairly inaccessible and included in the Parque Rural de Anaga (Blanco & González 1992).
...
Wikipedia