Martinique Curly-tailed Lizard
Encyclopedia
The Martinique Curly-tailed Lizard (Leiocephalus herminieri) is an extinct lizard from the family of curly-tailed lizards (Leiocephalidae). The Latin name commedorates the French naturalist Félix Louis L'Herminier
. There are five museum specimens of which three are deposed in Paris, one in London and a further in Leiden. Though Martinique
is assumed as range of this species there was some confusion about the type locality in the past. While André Marie Constant Duméril
and Gabriel Bibron
stated Martinique and Trinidad and Tobago
as type locality George Albert Boulenger
has given only Trinidad and Tobago as terra typica. Biology, the reasons for its extinction and the date of extinction are unknown. This species was last collected in the 1830s.
Of the three specimens from Paris the largest female is measured with 139 mm and the largest male with 126 mm. The large head scales are more or less distinctly striate. The large dorsal scales are keeled and forming continuous oblique series. The smaller lateral and ventral scales are keeled too. The back is greenish brown with less or more irregular yellowish crossbands. The head is yellowish with four or five black bars on the sides. The venter is yellowish. The throat has oblique black transverse bands.
Félix Louis L'Herminier
Félix Louis L'Herminier was a French pharmacist and naturalist who was born in Paris. He studied chemistry and natural history in Paris, and in 1798 travelled to Guadeloupe, where he studied the flora and fauna of the island until 1829, when he returned to France.He published several works on...
. There are five museum specimens of which three are deposed in Paris, one in London and a further in Leiden. Though Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
is assumed as range of this species there was some confusion about the type locality in the past. While André Marie Constant Duméril
André Marie Constant Duméril
André Marie Constant Duméril was a French zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became professor of herpetology and ichthyology...
and Gabriel Bibron
Gabriel Bibron
Gabriel Bibron was a French zoologist. He was born in Paris. Son of an employee of the Museum national d'histoire naturelle, he had a good foundation in natural history and was hired to collect vertebrates in Italy and Sicily. He classified a number of reptile species with André Marie Constant...
stated Martinique and Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
as type locality George Albert Boulenger
George Albert Boulenger
George Albert Boulenger FRS was a Belgian-British zoologist who identified over 2000 new animal species, chiefly fish, reptiles and amphibians.-Life:...
has given only Trinidad and Tobago as terra typica. Biology, the reasons for its extinction and the date of extinction are unknown. This species was last collected in the 1830s.
Of the three specimens from Paris the largest female is measured with 139 mm and the largest male with 126 mm. The large head scales are more or less distinctly striate. The large dorsal scales are keeled and forming continuous oblique series. The smaller lateral and ventral scales are keeled too. The back is greenish brown with less or more irregular yellowish crossbands. The head is yellowish with four or five black bars on the sides. The venter is yellowish. The throat has oblique black transverse bands.