Reptiles in Costa Rica and Guatemala

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A number of pictures, depicting unidentified species, are also shown. If you are able to identify any of these animals, or if you find any errors, I would be grateful to receive an email. You may use the address at the bottom of this page.

 

 

 

The generic name is a corruption of a Carib name of these animals, acayouman.

 

The specific name was given in allusion to its crocodile-like appearance.

 

 

 

 

 

The seventh species is the huge leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), which forms a separate family, Dermochelyidae. It has no scutes, but a leathery skin that covers 5 or 7 longitudinal ribs along the back.

Although sea turtles spend about 98% of their life in the oceans, the females must get ashore, when they are about to lay eggs. With a great effort, they crawl ashore on a sandy beach, where they use their hind flippers to dig a hole above the high tide line.

When a female has finished digging, she lays a number of white eggs, often between 80 and 100. They resemble table tennis balls, but are soft, so as not to break when they fall into the hole. When the egg-laying is over, the female covers the eggs, throwing sand about with her flippers to camouflage the spot. Then she returns to the sea.

Some sea turtle species lay eggs several times in a season, in some cases up to 11 clutches. It sounds incredible, but the female often returns to the beach where it hatched many years before. How she is able to do that remains a mystery. One theory is that the animals are imprinted by the physical and chemical composition of the beach, and that they are able to use the Earth magnetism to navigate from.

Earlier, adult sea turtles didn’t have many enemies. Tidligere havde voksne havskildpadder ikke mange fjender. Large sharks and orcas (Orcinus orca) may take some, although it is a rather bony mouthful. However, with the spreading of humans to the entire planet, the situation is quite different, and all eight species are declining drastically. The eggs are dug up and eaten by poor settlers, or eaten as a delicacy in restaurants, or because they are regarded as an aphrodisiac. Many adult turtles are also eaten by people.

The hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) is persecuted due to its beatiful carapace, from which jewelery, combs, and other items are carved. Numerous carapaces are imported by the Japanese. Even entire, varnished carapaces are sold as souvenirs, among other places in Indonesia.

Tens of thousands of sea turtles drown in fishing nets or become damaged by the propellors of boat engines. Young turtles die from eating waste oil and lumps of tar, floating on the surface. Many leatherbacks eat plastic, which resembles their main food, jellyfish. The plastic cannot be digested and gets stuck in the intestines, causing the animal to die from starvation.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek lepidos (‘scale’) and chelys (‘turtle’), perhaps alluding to the scaly appearance of the head and flippers of these animals. The common name is of unknown origin.

 

The specific name alludes to the olive tinge on this otherwise brownish or greyish animal.

My encounter with this animal in India is related on the page Animals – Reptiles and amphibians: Reptiles and amphibians in the Indian Subcontinent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The scientific name is derived from Ancient Greek leptos (‘thin’) and drymos (‘forest’), originally from drys (‘oak’), and a superlative of the Latin pulcher (‘beautiful’), thus ‘the very beautiful, thin (snake) of the forest’. A very descriptive name, indeed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name refers to the basilisk, a creature in Greek mythology, which is part rooster, part snake, and part lion. It was said that it could turn a person to stone, merely by looking at him or her. The word is derived from the Greek basiliskos, a diminutive of basileus (‘king’), thus ‘small king’.

 

Young animals are able to run along the surface of the water at a terrific speed, its legs moving so fast that they resemble a whisk. For this reason, the species is sometimes called Jesus Christ lizard, although that name is usually reserved for the common basilisk (B. basiliscus).

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘banded’, referring to the stripes on its body.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from krokodeilos, the Ancient Greek term for these animals.

 

A famous place to watch a large number of this crocodile is from a bridge across Rio Tárcoles, on the Costanera Sur Highway (Route 34), north of Jaco, Costa Rica.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘sharpened’, alluding to the long, pointed snout of this species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The common name stems from anoli, a Carib term for these animals.

 

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin bi (‘double’) and porca (‘a ridge between two furrows’). What it refers to is not clear.

Today, some authorities call this animal Norops biporcatus, but until further research has clarified its status, I retain the name Anolis biporcatus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only non-American genus is Brachylophus, found on Fiji and formerly also on Tonga. It is thought that the progenitor of these animals once drifted on logs from South America 8,000 km across the Pacific.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek ktenos (‘comb’), referring to the crest along the back of adult males, and saura (‘lizard’).

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘similar to’ – to what is not clear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a Spanish corruption of iwana, the term for these animals in Taino, an extinct Arawakan language, spoken by the Taino people of the Caribbean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek skelos (‘leg’) and poros (‘passage’, ‘pore’), alluding to the large pores on the thigh.

 

The specific name is derived from the Latin taenia (‘band’ or ‘ribbon’), and the Greek kneme (‘shin’), explained in the original description by American zoologist Edward Drinker Cope (1840-1897) in A contribution to the herpetology of Mexico. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 22: 379-404 (1885). He refers to “two black bands, separated by a brown one, on the posterior face of the thigh.” (Note that he uses the Greek word for ‘shin’ instead of ‘thigh’.)

 

 

 

 

 

The name gecko stems from the call of the Southeast Asian tokay gecko (Gekko gecko), of the family Gekkonidae, rendered as geck-oo or tuc-too.

 

The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek gonato (‘knee’) and oides (‘resembling’), probably alluding to the slender digits, which have prominent swellings in the joints.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘having a white throat’, derived from albus (‘white’) and gula (‘throat’). This means that the type specimen must have been a female, which has a white throat, as opposed to the male, which has an orange or yellow throat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name may be derived from Ancient Greek holkos (a kind of grain), referring to the grain-like, keeled scales on the frontal region of the head of these lizards.

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘joyous’ or ‘merry’, undoubtedly referring to its bright pattern and colours.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘four-lined’.