Xantusia

Xantusia is one of three genera of night lizards (family Xantusiidae). Species of Xantusia are small to medium-sized, viviparous (live-bearing) lizards found in the U.S. Southwest and in northern Mexico.

Xantusia
Xantusia vigilis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Xantusiidae
Subfamily:	Xantusiinae
Genus:	Xantusia Baird, 1859[1]

Taxonomy and etymology

The names and descriptions of the genus Xantusia and the type species X. vigilis were published in 1859 by Spencer Fullerton Baird, the generic name commemorating the naturalist John Xantus.[1][2]

Species

The following is a list of species in the genus.[1]

• Xantusia arizonae Klauber, 1931 – Arizona night lizard
• Xantusia bezyi Papenfuss, Macey & J.A. Schulte, 2001 – Bezy's night lizard
• Xantusia bolsonae Webb, 1970 – bolsón night lizard
• Xantusia extorris Webb, 1965 – Durango night lizard
• Xantusia gilberti Van Denburgh, 1895 – Gilbert's night lizard
• Xantusia gracilis Grismer & Galvan, 1986 – sandstone night lizard
• Xantusia henshawi Stejneger, 1893 – granite night lizard
• Xantusia jaycolei R. Bezy, K. Bezy & Bolles, 2008
• Xantusia riversiana Cope, 1883 – island night lizard
• Xantusia sanchezi R. Bezy & Flores-Villela, 1999 – Sanchez's night lizard
• Xantusia sherbrookei R. Bezy, K. Bezy & Bolles, 2008
• Xantusia sierrae R. Bezy, 1967 – sierra night lizard
• Xantusia vigilis Baird, 1859 – desert night lizard
• Xantusia wigginsi Savage, 1952

References

1. Xantusia vigilis at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database
2. 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. (Genus Xantusia, p. 291).

Further reading

• Baird SF (1859). "Description of New Genera and Species of North American Lizards in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution". Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 10: 253–246. (Xantusia, new genus, p. 255).
• Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II ... Xantusiidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 497 pp. + Plates I-XXIV. (Genus Xantusia, p. 327).
• Stebbins RC (2003). A Field Guide to Western Reptiles and Amphibians, Third Edition. The Peterson Field Guide Series ®. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. xiii + 533 pp. ISBN 978-0-395-98272-3. (Genus Xantusia, pp. 305–306).