Navassa curly-tailed lizard

The Navassa curly-tailed lizard or Navassa curlytail lizard (Leiocephalus eremitus) is an extinct lizard species from the family of curly-tailed lizard (Leiocephalidae). It is known only from the holotype, a female specimen from which it was described in 1868. A possible second specimen which was collected by Rollo Beck in 1917 was instead identified as a Tiburon curly-tailed lizard (Leiocephalus melanochlorus) by herpetologist Richard Thomas in 1966.

Navassa curly-tailed lizard
Conservation status
Extinct (19th century)  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Iguania
Family:	Leiocephalidae
Genus:	Leiocephalus
Species:	†L. eremitus
Binomial name
†Leiocephalus eremitus (Cope, 1868)
Synonyms[2]
Liocephalus [sic] eremitus Cope, 1868 Leiocephalus eremitus — Boulenger, 1885; Thomas, 1966

Geographic range

Leiocephalus eremitus was endemic to Navassa Island.^[1]

Description

The size of the holotype is given as 64 mm (2+1⁄2 in) snout–vent length (SVL). The head and ventral scales are smooth. The dorsal scales are larger than the scales on the flanks and the ventral scales. The dorsum is dark gray with nine dark transverse bars. The tail is pale with transverse bars on the basal half and uniformly dark gray to black on the posterior half. Throat, breast, belly and the extremities are brown with pale-tipped scales.

Behavior and habitat

Navassa has xeric forest vegetation, but nothing specific is known about biology of this species. The reason for its extinction is also unknown, but predation by cats is a possible reason.^[1]