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Jamaican Curlytail Lizard
Leiocephalus jamaicensis
Leiocephalus jamaicensis, commonly known as the Jamaican curlytail, is an extinct species of lizard in the family Leiocephalidae (curly-tailed lizard). It was native to Jamaica.
From the article Leiocephalus jamaicensis on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
L. jamaicensis was a large lizard species that could grow up to 130 mm in snout-vent length. Fossil evidence suggests there may have been two distinct variants of this species, as shown by different frontal bone structures: one specimen found in Portland Cave had a wide posterior with well-developed rugosities, while another from Montego Bay Airport Cave was narrow and smooth.
Wikipedia: “Morphology”
Range & habitat
Known only from fossilized remains found in Jamaica. The fossils have been discovered at several locations across the island, including:
Dairy Cave in St. Ann Parish Montego Bay Airport Cave in St. James Parish Portland Ridge Caves in Clarendon Parish Marta Tick Cave near Quickstep in Trelawny Parish
Biogeographical significance. This species was part of a broader distribution of Leiocephalus lizards throughout the West Indies, with fossil evidence showing that the genus once ranged across all main islands of the Greater Antilles and likely most of the Lesser Antilles as far south as Martinique.
Wikipedia: “Distribution”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Leiocephalus jamaicensis in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 39383.