Abronia moreletii, commonly known as Morelet's alligator lizard and escorpión de Morelet in Spanish, is a species of lizard in the subfamily Gerrhonotinae of the family Anguidae. The species is native to Central America. There are four recognized subspecies.
Etymology The specific name, moreletii, is in honor of French naturalist Pierre Marie Arthur Morelet.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . ("Del Campo", p. 69; "Mesaspis moreleti [sic]", pp. 182–183; "Mesaspis moreleti [sic] rafaeli ", p. 215).
Geographic range Abronia moreletii is native to southern Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.
Habitat The natural habitat of Abronia moreletii consists of Central American pine-oak forests and cloud forests between above sea level.
Behavior Abronia moreletii is terrestrial and semi-arboreal.
Reproduction The mode of reproduction of Abronia moreletii has been described as being viviparous and as being ovoviviparous.
Subspecies The following four subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies. Abronia moreletii moreletii Abronia moreletii rafaeli Abronia moreletii salvadorensis Abronia moreletii temporalis
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.
References
Further reading Bocourt, M.F. ("1871", 1872). "Description de quelques Gerrhonotes nouveaux provenant du Mexique et de l'Amérique centrale ". Nouvelles Archives du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris 7 (4): 101–108. ("Gerrhonotus moreleti [sic], n. sp.", new species, p. 102; "Gerrh. moreletii [sic]", pp. 103–104). (in French). xiii + 497 pp. + Plates I–XXIV. (Gerrhonotus moreletii, pp. 278–279). ("Gerrhonotus moreleti [sic] rafaeli ", new subspecies, pp. 8–10; "Gerrhonotus moreleti [sic] temporalis ", new subspecies, pp. 10–14). (Gerrhonotus salvadorensis, new species, pp. 196–198, Figure 1, two drawings of head).