Leiocephalus roquetus | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Reptilia |
Order: | Squamata |
Suborder: | Iguania |
Family: | Leiocephalidae |
Genus: | Leiocephalus |
Species: | †L. roquetus
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Binomial name | |
†Leiocephalus roquetus Bochaton, Charles, and Lenoble, 2021
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Leiocephalus roquetus, also known as the curlytail roquet[1] or La Désirade curlytail lizard[2], is an extinct species of lizard in the family of curly-tailed lizard (Leiocephalidae). It was endemic to Guadeloupe.[3]
The specific epithet, roquetus, refers to the name it was given by early French settlers on Guadeloupe; the indigenous Kalinago name for the species was never recorded. Aside from fossil remains, it is only known from a single specimen collected by one Théodore Roger, who deposited it circa 1835 at the Natural History Museum in Bordeaux; this specimen was misidentified in the mid-20th century as a Martinique curlytail (L. herminieri). The specimen was reexamined in 2015, and with the help of extensive Leiocephalus fossil remains discovered on La Désirade in 2018, was found to be a distinct species, and described as L. roquetus in 2021.[1][4]
This species, along with L.. herminieri, displays a primitive morphology compared to all other known species of Leiocephalus; it has thus been proposed that roquetus and herminieri belong to a basal clade of Leiocephalus restricted to the Lesser Antilles which has been completely wiped out by humans; all modern Leiocephalus are found only in the Greater Antilles and associated islands. L. roquetus was likely driven to extinction by introduced species, habitat degradation, and intensive agriculture.[1][4]