Celestus is a genus of diploglossid lizards mostly endemic to Jamaica (aside from a single species endemic to Haiti) and containing about 11 species, though three of these may be extinct. They are commonly known as galliwasps although the origin of this name is unclear. Formerly, this genus had more than 31 species, but a 2021 phylogenetic study found this classification to be paraphyletic and split those species into their own genera.[1][2] A more recent study found that several ecomorphs exist on Jamaica including a swamp ecomorph, a tree ecomorph, and a ground ecomorph.[3]

Celestus
Jamaican giant galliwasp (C. occiduus)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Diploglossidae
Subfamily: Celestinae
Genus: Celestus
Gray, 1839
Species

See text

Species

edit

Nota bene: a binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Celestus.

References

edit
  1. ^ "Search results | The Reptile Database". reptile-database.reptarium.cz. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  2. ^ Schools, Molly; Hedges, S. Blair (2021). "Phylogenetics, classification, and biogeography of the Neotropical forest lizards (Squamata, Diploglossidae)". Zootaxa. 4974 (2): 201–257. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4974.2.1. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 34186858.
  3. ^ Schools, Molly; Kasprowicz, Adrienne; Hedges, S. Blair (2022). "Phylogenomic data resolve the historical biogeography and ecomorphs of Neotropical forest lizards (Squamata, Diploglossidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 175: 107577. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107577. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 35835424.

Further reading

edit
  • Gry JE (1839). "Catalogue of the Slender-tongued Saurians, with Descriptions of many new Genera and Species". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, [First Series ] 2: 287–293. (Celestus, new genus, p. 288).
edit