Kentropyx borckiana
| Guyana kentropyx | |
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| Species: | K. borckiana
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| Kentropyx borckiana (W. Peters, 1869)
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Kentropyx borckiana, the Guyana kentropyx, is a species of lizard endemic to northeastern South America.
Geographic range
Kentropyx borckiana is found in Guyana, French Guiana, Suriname, and on the Caribbean island of Barbados.
Parthenogenesis
The species is apparently a rare unisexual clone that reproduces through parthenogenesis, in that only 100 female museum specimens are known to exist and no male specimens. It is believed to have arisen from hybridization between Kentropyx calcarata and Kentropyx striata.
Etymology
The species was named after Johann Graf von Borcke (1781-1862), a major in the Prussian Army who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. Borcke presented a number of specimens to the Berlin Museum.
Description
Kentropyx borckiana grows up to 100 mm (3.9 in) snout-to-vent. Its head and neck are greenish, with white underneath. Its sides are brown, and its underbody is pinkish. Its dorsal surface is gray to pinkish-brown, with light lateral stripes bordered with dark bands.
Similar species
A population on Trinidad was originally thought to be K. borckiana, but has since been identified as another species.
References
- ^ The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- Cole, Charles J.; Dessauer, Herbert C.; Townsend, Carol R.; Arnold, Margaret G. (1995). Kentropyx borckiana (Squamata, Teiidae): a unisexual lizard of hybrid origin in the Guiana region, South America. American Museum Novitates No. 3145. New York: American Museum of Natural History.
- Malhotra, Anita; Thorpe, Roger S. (1999). Reptiles & Amphibians of the Eastern Caribbean. London: Macmillan Education Ltd. pp. 97–98. ISBN 0-333-69141-5.
External links
Media related to Kentropyx borckiana at Wikimedia Commons- Kentropyx borckiana at the Encyclopedia of Life
- Kentropyx borckiana at the Reptile Database
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