Gallotia goliath

Gallotia goliath
Skull in Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Lacertilia
Family: Lacertidae
Subfamily: Gallotiinae
Genus: Gallotia
Species: †G. goliath
Binomial name
Gallotia goliath
Mertens, 1942
Synonyms
  • Gallotia maxima Bravo, 1953
  • Lacerta maxima Bravo, 1953[1]
  • Lacerta goliath Mertens, 1942

Gallotia goliath is an extinct giant lizard species from the island of Tenerife of the Canary Islands, Spain. This reptile lived before the arrival of humans and is believed to have grown to at least three feet long.[2] It was described by the German herpetologist Robert Mertens. Fossils of this lizard have been found in volcanic caves, where they often appear with those of other animals, like the Tenerife giant rat.

Prehistoric Gallotia remains have been assigned to the taxa G. maxima and G. goliath, the former supposedly occurring only on Tenerife, the latter on several islands. It was eventually determined, however, that G. maxima is a junior synonym of G. goliath, and that the latter was close to the El Hierro giant lizard (Gallotia simonyi); supposed goliath specimens from El Hierro, La Gomera, and La Palma (from the Cuevas de los Murciélagos) are probably just extremely large individuals of, respectively, the El Hierro, La Gomera (Gallotia bravoana) and La Palma (Gallotia auaritae) giant lizards.[3] Based on DNA sequence analysis of mummified remains, G. goliath is a valid species that probably was restricted to Tenerife, and apparently was closer to the Tenerife speckled lizard (Gallotia intermedia) than to the El Hierro giant lizard.[4]

Gallery

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Bravo, Telésforo. Lacerta maxima n. sp. de la fauna continental extinguida del Pleistoceno de las Canarias. Instituto "Lucas Mallada" de Investigaciones Geológicas, 1953.
  2. ↑ Barahona et al., 2000, p. 381
  3. ↑ Barahona et al., 2000
  4. ↑ Maca-Meyer et al., 2003

References

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