Tropidurus hispidus ( Spix, 1825 )

Ribeiro-Júnior, Marco A., 2015, Catalogue of distribution of lizards (Reptilia: Squamata) from the Brazilian Amazonia. I. Dactyloidae, Hoplocercidae, Iguanidae, Leiosauridae, Polychrotidae, Tropiduridae, Zootaxa 3983 (3), pp. 1-110 : 29-30

Tropidurus hispidus ( Spix, 1825)

Type-locality. Bahia, restricted by Vanzolini (1981) to Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

Pertinent taxonomic references. Spix (1825), Kaup (1827), Duméril & Bibron (1837), Gray (1845), Berthold (1859), Günther (1861), Reinhardt & Lütken (1862), Peters (1871), Boulenger (1885), Cunha (1961), Etheridge (1970e), Vanzolini (1981), Kasahara et al. (1987), Rodrigues (1987), Frost (1992), Pellegrino et al. (1994), Ávila- Pires (1995), Kasahara et al. (1996), Frost et al. (2001b).

Distribution and habitat. Tropidurus hispidus is distributed from northern South America (Caribbean coast), through Amazonia, Caatinga, coastal areas of northeastern Brazil, to southeastern Cerrado, occurring in Brazil, Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, and Colombia ( Fig. 20 ). In Brazil, it is known from Roraima, Amazonas, Pará (Amazonian region), Tocantins, Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, Bahia, and Minas Gerais. In Amazonia it occurs in some open vegetation enclaves in upper Branco and Orinoco river basins, in middle Negro River (left margin), in lower Paru do Oeste River (left margin), some enclaves along the north margin of Amazon River, and in southern Amazon in eastern region of Araguaia/ Tocantins Rivers ( Fig. 20 ). Tropidurus hispidus is predominantly terrestrial and diurnal, inhabits semideciduous seasonal forest, gallery forests, xerophytic thorn forest with cacti and rock outcrops, patches of forest between dunes, and perianthropic areas, where it is found on a variety of microhabitats, from the open sandy ground, through rocks and low vegetation, to the canopy of low trees (Rodrigues 1987; 1996; 2003; Vitt 1995; Freire 1996; da Silva et al. 2006; Santana et al. 2008; de Sales et al. 2009; Couto-Ferreira et al. 2011; Morato et al. 2011; de Freitas et al. 2012). In northern Amazonia it inhabits savanna areas with granite outcrops, where it is usually found on rock surfaces, but also on trunks of fallen trees on the rocks, and on open ground ( Hoogmoed 1973; O’Shea 1989; Ávila-Pires 1995; Vitt et al. 1996b; 2008a; Vitt & Zani 1998; Mesquita et al. 2006b; MacCulloch & Reynolds 2012). In Manaus, Brazil, it occurs in perianthropic situations, on fences and buildings ( Vitt et al. 2008a), and its presence in the city represents a recent invasion, probably transported from Roraima ( Ávila-Pires & Magnusson 1987). It is absent within forest or in agricultural fields ( Hoogmoed 1973; Vitt et al. 1996b).

Figures

FIGURE 20. Distribution of examined material of Tropidurus hispidus and T. insulanus.