Mesaspis moreletii

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
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, Toxicofera
Subordo: Anguimorpha
Infraordo: Neoanguimorpha
Superfamilia: Diploglossa

Familia: Anguidae
Subfamilia: Gerrhonotinae
Genus: Mesaspis
Species: Mesaspis moreletii
Subspecies (5): M. m. fulva – M. m. moreletii – M. m. rafaeli – M. m. salvadorensis – M. m. temporalis
Name

Mesaspis moreletii (Bocourt, 1872)

Syntypes: MNHN 1188, 1267, 1268.

Type locality: “le Peten, ainsi que les forets de pins de la Haute Vera-Paz (Guatemala), à une altitude de 1.440 m.”
Combinations

Gerrhonotus moreleti Bocourt, 1872: 102 [original combination]
Mesaspis moreleti — Cope, 1878: 96 [name combination]
Barisia moreleti — Tihen, 1949: 598 [name combination]

References
Primary references

Bocourt, M.-F. [1871] 1872. Description de quelques Gerrhonotes nouveaux provenant du Mexique et de l’Afrique Centrale. Nouvelles archives du Muséum d'histoire naturelle 1ère série 7: 101–108. BHL Reference page.
Cope, E.D. [1877] 1878. Tenth contribution to the herpetology of tropical America. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 17: 85–98. BHL Reference page.
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

Tihen, J.A. 1949. A review of the lizard genus Barisia. The University of Kansas science bulletin 33(3): 217–254. BHL Reference page.
Good, D.A. 1988. Phylogenetic Relationships Among Gerrhonotine Lizards: An Analysis of External Morphology. In University of California Publications in Zoology volume 121. University of California Press: Berkeley & Los Angeles. 139 pp. ISBN 9780520097445 Reference page.

Links

Uetz, P. & Hallermann, J. 2022. Mesaspis moreletii. The Reptile Database. Accessed on 24 August 2017.
Ariano-Sánchez, D., Sunyer, J. & Veselý, M. 2013. IUCN: Mesaspis moreletii (Least Concern). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T176254A1436880. DOI: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-2.RLTS.T176254A1436880.en

Vernacular names
English: Morelet's Alligator Lizard

Abronia moreletii, commonly known as Morelet's alligator lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Anguidae. The species is endemic to Central America.[1]

Etymology

The specific name, moreletii, is in honor of French naturalist Pierre Marie Arthur Morelet.[4]
Geographic range

A. moreletii is native to southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.[1]
Habitat

The natural habitat of A. moreletii consists of Central American pine-oak forests and cloud forests between 1,450 and 2,530 metres (4,760 and 8,300 ft) above sea level.[1]
Subspecies

The following subspecies are recognized as being valid:[3]

Abronia moreletii moreletii (Bocourt, 1872)
Abronia moreletii rafaeli (Hartweg & Tihen, 1946)
Abronia moreletii salvadorensis (Hartweg & Tihen, 1946)
Abronia moreletii temporalis (Hartweg & Tihen, 1946)

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

The subspecific name, rafaeli, is in honor of Mexican herpetologist Rafael Martín del Campo.[4]
References

Ariano-Sánchez, D.; Sunyer, J.; Veselý, M. (2013). "Mesaspis moreletii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2013: e.T176254A1436880. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-2.RLTS.T176254A1436880.en. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
"Appendices | CITES". cites.org. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
Abronia moreletii at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 14 January 2021.

Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("Del Campo", p. 69; "Mesaspis moreleti [sic]", pp. 182-183; "Mesaspis moreleti [sic] rafaeli", p. 215).