Xantusia gilberti, also known commonly as the Baja California night lizard and la nocturna de Baja California in Mexican Spanish, is a species of small lizard in the family Xantusiidae. The species is native to the southern Baja California Peninsula of Mexico.[1]

Xantusia gilberti
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Xantusiidae
Genus: Xantusia
Species:
X. gilberti
Binomial name
Xantusia gilberti
Synonyms[1]
  • Xantusia gilberti
    Van Denburgh, 1895
  • Amoebopsis gilberti
    Cope, 1895
  • Xantusia vigilis gilberti
    Savage, 1952
  • Xantusia gilberti
    Sinclair et al., 2004

Etymology

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The specific name, gilberti, is in honor of American ichthyologist Charles Henry Gilbert.[2]

Description

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The holotype of X. gilberti has a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of about 4 cm (1.6 in), and a tail length about equal to SVL. The eye is very small, with a vertical pupil. There are nine femoral pores on one leg and eight on the other.[3]

Reproduction

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X. gilberti is viviparous.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Xantusia gilberti at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 20 October 2020.
  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. (Xantusia vigilis gilberti, p. 100).
  3. ^ Van Denburgh (1895).

Further reading

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  • Savage JM (1952). "Studies on the Lizard Family Xantusiidae I. The Systematic Status of the Baja California Night Lizards Allied to Xantusia vigilis, with the Description of a New Subspecies". American Midland Naturalist 48 (2): 467–479. (Xantusia vigilis gilberti, new taxonomic status).
  • Sinclair EA, Bezy RL, Bolles K, Camarillo JL, Crandall KA, Sites JW (2004). "Testing Species Boundaries in an Ancient Species Complex with Deep Phylogeographic History: Genus Xantusia (Squamata: Xantusiidae)". American Naturalist 164 (3): 396–414. (Xantusia gilberti).
  • Van Denburgh J (1895). "A Review of the Herpetology of Lower California. Part I — Reptiles". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Second Series 5: 77–163 + Plates IV–XIV. (Xantusia gilberti, new species, pp. 121–122 + Plate XI, figures A–F).