Sceloporus taeniocnemis, also known commonly as the Guatemalan emerald spiny lizard and la chachapaja in Spanish, is a species of lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. The species is native to Guatemala and adjacent southeastern Mexico. There are two recognized subspecies.
Geographic range S. taeniocnemis is found in central Guatemala and in the Mexican state of Chiapas.
Habitat The preferred natural habitat of S. taeniocnemis is forest, at altitudes of .
Reproduction S. taeniocnemis is viviparous.
Subspecies The following two subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies. Sceloporus taeniocnemis taeniocnemis Sceloporus taeniocnemis hartwegi
Etymology The subspecific name, hartwegi, is in honor of American herpetologist Norman Edouard Hartweg.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Sceloporus taeniocnemis hartwegi, p. 117).
References
Further reading Cope ED (1885). "A contribution to the Herpetology of Mexico". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 22: 379–404. (Sceloporus tæniocnemis, new species, pp. 399). Johnson JD, Mata-Silva V, García Padilla E, Wilson LD (2015). "The herpetofauna of Chiapas, Mexico: composition, distribution, and conservation". Mesoamerican Herpetology 2 (3): 272–329. (Sceloporus taeniocnemis, pp. 285, 293, 302, 320). Stuart LC (1971). "Comments on the Malachite Sceloporus (Reptilia: Sauria: Iguanidae) of Southern Mexico and Guatemala". Herpetologica 27 (3): 235–239. (Sceloporus taeniocnemis hartwegi, new subspecies).