Mexico Herpetology

TROPICAL NIGHT LIZARD
Lepidophyma tuxtlae - Werler & Shannon 1957

IDENTIFICATION:

DISTRIBUTION:
Lepidophyma tuxtlae is known from the Sierra de Los Tuxtlas of Veracruz, Sierra de Juarez of Oaxaca, Rio Coatzacoalcos and Sierra Atravesada of eastern Veracruz and Oaxaca, and Selva de Ocote region of Chiapas, Mexico. Elevational distribution to 1,500 meters.

HABITAT:
Vogt (1997) reports this species as inhabiting trees within the rainforest of the Tuxtlas region of Veracruz. It has also been found within rotting logs and beneath the bark of tree stumps.

NATURAL HISTORY:
This species is viviparous, largely insectivorous (some plant material has been found in stomachs of preserved specimens) and both diurnal and nocturnal (Vogt, 1997). It occurs in sympatry with L. pajapanense in the Tuxtlas and Rio Coatzacoalcos regions and with L. flavimaculatum in the Selva de Ocote and Rio Coatzacoalcos regions. Males are reportedly rare at study localities in the Tuxtlas region. Females give birth to 3-6 young in late June and early July.

TAXONOMY:
This species is closely allied to the sympatric L. pajapanense.

TYPE:
Described as Lepidophyma tuxtlae by J. E. Werler and F. A. Shannon (1957). Holotype: UIMNH 67064. Type locality: ‘‘lower slopes of Volcan San Martin, Veracruz, Mexico, elevation 2,500 feet.’’

PERSONAL NOTES:
Although I have visited the Tuxtlas region of Veracruz, I have no experience with this species.

CONSERVATION STATUS:
This species is in no danger of decline.

REFERENCES:
Castillo-Ceron, J.M., and C.A. Lopez-Gonzalez. 1990. Notes on the biology and status of a population of Lepidophyma tuxtlae in the Sierra Santa Marta, Veracruz, Mexico. Bulletin of the Maryland Herpetological Society 26:153–158.
Vogt, R.C., J.L. Villareal Benitz, and G. Perez-Higareda. 1997. Lista anotada de anfibios y reptiles. In Historia natural de los Tuxtlas, ed. E. Gonzalez Soriano, R. Dirzo, and R.C. Vogt, 507–522. Mexico: Universidad Autonoma de Mexico.
Werler, J. E., and F. A. Shannon. 1957. A new lizard of the genus Lepidophyma from Veracruz, Mexico. Herpetologica 13:119–122.