Gymnophthalmus underwoodi

Gymnophthalmus underwoodi, called commonly Underwood's spectacled tegu, is a species of microteiid lizard, which is found in South America and on certain Caribbean islands.

Gymnophthalmus underwoodi
Underwood's spectacled tegu
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Gymnophthalmidae
Genus:	Gymnophthalmus
Species:	G. underwoodi
Binomial name
Gymnophthalmus underwoodi Grant, 1958

Etymology

G. underwoodi is named after British herpetologist Garth Leon Underwood.^[2]

Reproduction

G. underwoodi is a unisexual species, reproducing through parthenogenesis. Captive specimens have been recorded laying up to eleven eggs within four months, with between one and four eggs per clutch.

Geographic range

The geographic distribution of G. underwoodi includes the islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Antigua, Barbuda, Trinidad, and Tobago in the Lesser Antilles; and Guyana, Suriname, Colombia, and Venezuela in South America. It is also present on Dominica, which has been confirmed by both Breuil (2002) and Turk et al. (2010). Recent incursions on Saba and Sint Eustatius have led to a widely occurring non-native populations on both islands.^[3][4]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of G. underwoodi is grassland.^[1]

Sources

• Breuil M (2002). Histoire naturelle des amphibiens et reptiles terrestres de l'Archipel Guadeloupéen. Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthélem. Vol. 54. Paris: Patrimoines Naturels. pp. 1–339.
• Malhotra, Anita; Thorpe, Roger S. (1999). Reptiles & Amphibians of the Eastern Caribbean. London: Macmillan Education Ltd. pp. 34, 70, 83–84, 97, 101, 104. ISBN 0-333-69141-5.