Key tegu
Template:Short description Template:Speciesbox
The Key tegu (Echinosaura keyi), also known commonly as Key's teiid and Template:Lang in Spanish, is a species of lizard in the family Gymnophthalmidae. The species is endemic to Ecuador.<ref name=RDB/>
Taxonomy
Echinosaura keyi was formerly known as Teuchocercus keyi Template:Small, and was the type species of the genus Teuchocercus,<ref name=fritts1969>Fritts TH, Smith HM (1969). "A New Teiid Lizard Genus from Western Ecuador". Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science 72 (1): 54–59. (Teuchocercus, new genus; Teuchocercus keyi, new species).</ref> but the genus Teuchocercus is no longer recognized.<ref name=RDB/>
Etymology
The specific name, keyi, is in honor of American physician and amateur herpetologist George Key (1942–1999).<ref>Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. Template:ISBN. (Teuchocercus keyi, p. 140).</ref>
Geographic range
The Key tegu is only found in Ecuador with records from Esmeraldas and Pichincha.<ref name=RDB/>
Habitat
The preferred natural habitat of E. keyi is near streams in forest, at altitudes of Template:Cvt.<ref name="iucn status 18 November 2021"/>
Reproduction
E. keyi is oviparous.<ref name=RDB/>
References
Further reading
- Torres-Carvajal O (2001). "Lizards of Ecuador: Checklist, Distribution, and Systematic References". Smithsonian Herpetological Information Service (131): 1–35. (Teuchocercus keyi, p. 14).
- Torres-Carvajal, Omar; Lobos, Simón E.; Venegas, Pablo J.; Chávez, Germán; Aguirre-Peñafiel, Vanessa; Zurita, Daniel; Echevarría, Lourdes Y. (2016). "Phylogeny and biogeography of the most diverse clade of South American gymnophthalmid lizards (Squamata, Gymnophthalmidae, Cercosaurinae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 99: 63–75. (Echinosaura keyi, new combination).
- Torres-Carvajal O, Pazmiño-Otamendi G, Salazar-Valenzuela D (2019). "Reptiles of Ecuador: a resource-rich online portal, with dynamic checklists and photographic guides". Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 13 (1) [General Section]: 209–229 (e178). (Echinosaura keyi, p. 213, Table 1). (in English, with an abstract in Spanish).