Tenerife Speckled Lizard
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Conservation status: Critical
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| Gallotia intermedia Barbadillo, Lacomba, Pêrez-Mellado, Sancho & López-Jurado, 1999 |
The Tenerife Speckled Lizard Gallotia intermedia (in Spanish: Lagarto Canario Moteado) was discovered in 1996 in the Macizo de Teno in the extreme northwest of Tenerife island, in the Canary Islands (Spain). It is believed that the species was once widespread throughout much of Tenerife, but is now only known from a small area of coastline in the extreme west of the island, and also from Montana de Guaza in the extreme south.
The total number of animals is 500 (in 2005), in 40 isolated populations along 9 km of coastline. The main threat to this lizard is predation by feral cats and, to a lesser degree, by rats. The number of animals in increasing as a result of control of introduced mammals.
[edit] References
- Barrbadillo, L.J., Lacomba, J.I., Pêrez-Mellado, V., Sancho, V. and López-Jurado, L.F. 1999. Anfibios y Reptiles de la Peninsula Ibérica, Baleares y Canarias. 419 pp. Editorial Planeta, Barcelona.
- Hernández, E., Nogales, N. and Martín, A. 2000. Discovery of a new lizard in the Canary Islands, with a multivariant analysis of Gallotia (Reptilia: Lacertidae). Herpetologica 56(1): 63-76.
- Miras, J.A.M. & Pérez-Mellado, V. 2005. Gallotia intermedia. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 18 May 2006.
