Abronia gadovii

Abronia gadovii, also known commonly as Gadow's alligator lizard and el escorpión de Gadow in Mexican Spanish, is a species of lizard in the family Anguidae. The species is endemic to the highlands of the Sierra Madre del Sur in Guerrero and Oaxaca, Mexico.^[1][2] Two subspecies are recognized:^[2]

Abronia gadovii
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Anguimorpha
Family:	Anguidae
Genus:	Abronia
Species:	A. gadovii
Binomial name
Abronia gadovii (Boulenger, 1913)
Synonyms[2]
Gerrhonotus gadovii Boulenger, 1913 Barisia gadovii — Tihen, 1949 Mesaspis gadovii — Good, 1988 Abronia gadovii — Gutiérrez-Rodríguez et al., 2020

Etymology

The specific name, gadovii, is in honor of German ornithologist Hans Friedrich Gadow.^[3]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of A. gadovii is forest, including second-growth forest.^[1]

Description

A. gadovii may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of about 9 cm (3.5 in), plus a tail length of about 15 cm (5.9 in).^[4]

Diet

A. gadovii preys predominately upon insects, and is known to also devour small lizards.^[5]

Reproduction

A. gadovii is ovoviviparous.^[2]

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized as being valid including the nominotypical subspecies.

• Abronia gadovii gadovii (Boulenger, 1913) – Guerrero
• Abronia gadovii levigata (Tihen, 1949) – Oaxaca

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Abronia.