Holcosus festivus

Holcosus festivus, commonly known as the Middle American ameiva, Central American whiptail, or tiger ameiva, is a species of whiptail lizard endemic to Central America and northern South America.[2]

Holcosus festivus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Teiidae
Genus: Holcosus
Species:
H. festivus
Binomial name
Holcosus festivus
(Lichtenstein, 1856)
Synonyms[2]
  • Cnemidophorus festivus — Lichtenstein, 1856
  • Ameiva festivus
    — Bocourt, 1874
  • Ameiva festiva
    — Boulenger, 1885
  • Holcosus festivus
    — Harvey et al., 2012

Geographic range

H. festivus is found from southern Mexico to Colombia.[2]

Description

H. festivus is brown-colored, with darker browns making a zig-zag pattern down the back. A similar species is Holcosus quadrilineatus. Juveniles have metallic-blue tails.[3]

Habitat

H. festivus lives in open habitats.[3]

Subspecies

Three subspecies are recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies.[2]

Nota bene: A taxon author (binomial authority or trinomial authority) in parentheses indicates that the taxon (species or subspecies) was originally described in a different genus (in this case, a genus other than Holcosus).

Etymology

The subspecific name, edwardsii, is in honor of French zoologist Alphonse Milne-Edwards.[4]

References
  1. IUCN (2016). "Holcosus festivus ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Holcosus festivus at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database.
  3. Ameiva festiva, Lizards of Las Cruces Biological Station, Costa Rica.
  4. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Ameiva festiva edwardsii, p. 80).

Further reading
  • Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume II ... Teiidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 497 pp. + Plates I-XXIV. (Ameiva festiva, p. 347).
  • Lichtenstein H (1856). Nomenclator reptilium et amphibiorum musei zoologici Berolinensis: Namenverzeichniss der in der zoologischen Sammlung der Königlichen Universität zu Berlin aufgestellten Arten von Reptilien und Amphibien nach ihren Ordnungen, Familien und Gattungen. Berlin: Königlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. iv + 48 pp. (Cnemidophorus festivus, new species, p. 13). (in Latin and German).
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