Abronia

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Cladus: Unidentata, Episquamata
Cladus: Toxicofera
Subordo: Anguimorpha
Infraordo: Neoanguimorpha
Superfamilia: Diploglossa

Familia: Anguidae
Subfamilia: Gerrhonotinae
Genus: Abronia
Species (32): A. anzuetoi – A. aurita – A. bogerti – A. campbelli – A. chiszari – A. cuetzpali – A. cunemica –A. deppii – A. fimbriata – A. frosti – A. fuscolabialis – A. gaiophantasma –A. graminea – A. leurolepis – A. lythrochila – A. martindelcampoi – A. matudai – A. meledona – A. mitchelli – A. mixteca – A. montecristoi – A. morenica – A. oaxacae – A. ochoterenai – A. ornelasi – A. ramirezi – A. reidi – A. salvadorensis – A. smithi – A. taeniata – A. vasconcelosii – A. zongolica
Name

Abronia Gray, 1838: 389

Type species: Gerrhonotus deppii Wiegmann, 1828, by subsequent designation by Tihen (1949: 587).

References
Primary references

Gray, J.E. 1838. Catalogue of the slender-tongued saurians, with descriptions of many new genera and species. Annals of Natural History 1: 388–394. BHL
Tihen, J.A. 1949. The Genera of Gerrhonotine Lizards. The American Midland Naturalist 41(3): 580–601. DOI: 10.2307/2421775 Paywall; JSTOR Hybrid open access journal Reference page.

Additional references

Campbell, J.A. & Frost, D.R. 1993. Anguid lizards of the genus Abronia: revisionary notes, descriptions of four new species, a phylogenetic analysis, and key. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 216: 1–121. handle. Reference page.
Chippindale, P.T., Ammerman, L.K. & Campbell, J.A. 1998. Molecular approaches to the phylogeny of lizards of the genus Abronia (Anguidae: Gerrhonotinae), with emphasis on relationships in the subgenus Auriculabronia. Copeia 1998(4): 883–892. DOI: 10.2307/1447335 JSTOR Reference page.
Campbell, J.A., Solano-Zavaleta, I., Flores-Villela, O., Caviedes-Solís, I.W. & Frost, D.R. 2016. A New Species of Abronia (Squamata: Anguidae) from the Sierra Madre del Sur of Oaxaca, Mexico. Journal of Herpetology 50(1): 149–156. DOI: 10.1670/14-162 Reference page.
Clause, A.G., Luna-Reyes, R. & Nieto-Montes de Oca, A. 2020. A New Species of Abronia (Squamata: Anguidae) from a Protected Area in Chiapas, Mexico. Herpetologica 76(3): 330–343. DOI: 10.1655/Herpetologica-D-19-00047 Paywall Reference page.
García-Vázquez, U.O., Claude, A.G., Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, J., Cazares-Hernández, E. & de la Torre-Loranca, M.A. 2022. A New Species of Abronia (Squamata: Anguidae) from the Sierra de Zongolica of Veracruz, Mexico. Ichthyology & Herpetology 110(1): 33–49. DOI: 10.1643/h2021051 Open access Reference page.

Links

Uetz, P. & Hallermann, J. 2024. Abronia . The Reptile Database. Accessed on 22 December 2022.

Vernacular names
English: Arboreal Alligator Lizards

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Abronia is a genus of lizards in the family Anguidae that is native to Mexico and Central America. The majority of the species are restricted to southern Mexico and Guatemala, but members of the genus occur as far south as Panama.[2] They inhabit forests and woodlands, mostly in highlands, and some species are often associated with bromeliads. They are typically arboreal, but there are also terrestrial Abronia species.[3] Many species are considered threatened due to habitat loss, killing by locals who mistakenly believe they are venomous, or collection for the captive reptile trade (they are listed on CITES, which restricts international trade).[3] They feed on small animal prey, such as insects, and the females give birth to live young (rather than lay eggs).[4]

These medium-sized to fairly large lizards (maximum length generally up to about 35 cm [14 in]) possess intriguing physical traits such as long prehensile tails that can be regrown if lost, keeled body scales, and a helmet-like structure on the top of the head, which in some species, for example A. lythrochila, has spikes towards the rear.[5][6] Their colors also vary significantly depending on species, including green, bluish-green, brown, yellowish, whitish, gray and black, and some have contrasting mottled or banded patterns.[5]
Species
Abronia montecristoi
Abronia taeniata

These species are recognized as being valid:[2]

Abronia antauges (Cope, 1866) – Mount Orizaba alligator lizard
Abronia anzuetoi Campbell & Frost, 1993 – Anzueto's arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia aurita (Cope, 1869) – Cope's arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia bogerti Tihen, 1954 – Bogert's arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia campbelli Brodie & Savage, 1993 – Campbell's alligator lizard
Abronia chiszari H.M. Smith & R.B. Smith, 1981 – Chiszar's arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia cuchumatanus Solano-Zavaleta, Nieto-Montes de Oca & Campbell, 2016 – Cuchumatanes alligator lizard
Abronia cuetzpali Campbell, Solano-Zavaleta, Flores-Villela, Caviedes-Solís & Frost, 2016
Abronia cunemica (Clause et al., 2024) – Coapilla arboreal alligator lizard.[7]
Abronia deppii (Wiegmann, 1828) – Deppe's arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia fimbriata (Cope, 1884)
Abronia frosti Campbell, Sasa, Acevedo & Mendelson, 1998 – Frost's arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia fuscolabialis (Tihen, 1944) – Mount Zempoaltepec arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia gadovii (Boulenger, 1913) – Gadow's alligator lizard
Abronia gaiophantasma Campbell & Frost, 1993 – brilliant arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia graminea (Cope, 1864) – Mexican alligator lizard
Abronia juarezi (Karges & J.W. Wright, 1987) – Sierra Juarez alligator lizard
Abronia leurolepis Campbell & Frost, 1993 – smoothback arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia lythrochila H.M. Smith & Álvarez del Toro, 1963 – red-lipped arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia martindelcampoi Flores-Villela & Sánchez-Herrera, 2003 – Martín del Campo's arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia matudai (Hartweg & Tihen, 1946) – Matuda's arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia meledona Campbell & Brodie, 1999
Abronia mitchelli Campbell, 1982 – Mitchell's arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia mixteca Bogert & Porter, 1967 – Mixtecan arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia montecristoi Hidalgo, 1983 — Monte Cristo arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia monticola (Cope, 1878) — montane alligator lizard
Abronia moreletii (Bocourt, 1871) – Morelet's alligator lizard
Abronia morenica Clause, Luna-Reyes & Nieto-Montes de Oca, 2020[8] – Sierra Morena arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia oaxacae (Günther, 1885) – Oaxacan arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia ochoterenai (Martín del Campo, 1939) – Ochoterena's arboreal alligator lizard, Northern Chiapas arboreal alligator lizard,
Abronia ornelasi Campbell, 1984 – Ornelas's arboreal alligator lizard, Cerro Baul alligator lizard
Abronia ramirezi Campbell, 1994 – Ramirez's alligator lizard
Abronia reidi Werler & Shannon, 1961 – Reid's arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia salvadorensis Hidalgo, 1983 — Salvador arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia smithi Campbell & Frost, 1993 — Smith's arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia taeniata (Wiegmann, 1828) – banded arboreal alligator lizard, bromeliad arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia vasconcelosii (Bocourt, 1871) — Bocourt's arboreal alligator lizard
Abronia viridiflava (Bocourt, 1873) — dwarf alligator lizard
Abronia zongolica García-Vázquez, Clause, Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, Cazares-Hernández & de la Torre-Loranca, 2022[9]

References

"Abronia". ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System). www.itis.gov.
Abronia. The Reptile Database. Consulted: 2012-04-06.
García-Vázquez, U.M.; Clause, A.G.; Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, J.; Cazares-Hernández, E.; Ángel de la Torre-Loranca, M. (2022). "A New Species of Abronia (Squamata: Anguidae) from the Sierra de Zongolica of Veracruz, Mexico". Ichthyology & Herpetology. 110 (1): 33–49. doi:10.1643/h2021051.
Cruz-Elizalde, R.; Villamar-Duque, T.E.; Ramírez-Bautista, A. (2021). "Sexual dimorphism in size and shape in the viviparous lizard Abronia taeniata (Squamata: Anguidae) in central Mexico". Acta Zoologica. 102 (2): 220–226. doi:10.1111/azo.12329.
"Identification guide for dragons (Arboreal alligator lizards, Abronia spp.) regulated by CITES" (PDF). CITES. 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
"Status of conservation, use, management of and trade in the species of the genus Abronia" (PDF). CITES. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
Elusive ‘alligator’-like creature found in treetops... Yahoo News. By Aspen Pflughoeft. January 5, 2024. Accessed January 7, 2024.
Clause, Adam G.; Luna-Reyes, Roberto; Nieto-Montes de Oca, Adrián (2020). "A New Species of Abronia (Squamata: Anguidae) from a Protected Area in Chiapas, Mexico". Herpetologica. 76 (3): 330. doi:10.1655/Herpetologica-D-19-00047. ISSN 0018-0831. S2CID 221564537. (Abronia morenica, new species).
García-Vázquez, Uri Omar; Clause, Adam G.; Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, Jorge; Cazares-Hernández, Erasmo; de la Torre-Loranca, Miguel Ángel (2022). "A New Species of Abronia (Squamata: Anguidae) from the Sierra de Zongolica of Veracruz, Mexico". Ichthyology & Herpetology. 110 (1): 33-49. (Abronia zongolica, new species).