La Palma Giant Lizard

Taxobox
name = La Palma Giant Lizard
status = CR
extinct = recently rediscovered, but status not yet changed
status_system = iucn3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Reptilia
ordo = Squamata
subordo = Sauria
familia = Lacertidae
subfamilia = Gallotiinae
genus = "Gallotia"
species = "G. auaritae"
binomial = "Gallotia auaritae"
binomial_authority = Mateo, García-Márquez, López Jurado & Barahona, 2001
synonyms =
*"Gallotia simonyi auaritae" Mateo, García-Márquez, López Jurado & Barahona, 2001

The La Palma Giant Lizard ("Gallotia auaritae") is a giant lacertid (wall lizard) that, as its name indicates, live in the littoral zone of La Palma in the Canary Islands; its habitat ranged from sea level up to altitudes of 800 m. It probably lives in xerophytic vegetation and is presumably an egg-laying species. Long believed extinct (and likely will remain classified as such until the Red List is updated), it was rediscovered in 2007. [http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_14241.shtml Giant Lizard found on La Palma] typicallyspanish.com. Accessed 28/12-2007]

Its decline started 2000 years ago with the arrival of humans on La PalmaFact|date=October 2008. Until its recent rediscovery, it was believed to have become extinct in the last 500 years. The main causes of this presumed extinction were believed to have been introduced rats, [ [http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-fg-extinct7-2008oct07,0,6158305.story Weiss, Kenneth R. "One-fourth of Wild Mammal Species May Face Extinction", "Los Angeles Times", October 7, 2008] ] consumption by people, and habitat destruction for agriculture. It is not the only lizard from the Canary Islands to have been considered extinct only to be rediscovered later: This happened with other giant lizards of the Canary Islands, like the El Hierro and La Gomera Giant Lizards (rediscovered 1974 and 1999, respectively); the somewhat smaller Tenerife Speckled Lizard was only discovered for the first time in 1996.

This giant lizard was originally described as a subspecies of the El Hierro Giant Lizard (Mateo "et al" 2001). Later, it was elevated to full species rank (Afonso & Mateo 2003). Specimens from La Palma assigned to "G. goliath" seem to belong to this taxon instead; if this is correct, they indicate that the average size of this species had been decreasing over the last millennia, possibly due to humans preferring to hunt larger lizards (Barahona "et al". 2000). The recently discovered individual of the La Palma Giant Lizard was slight more than 30 cm (~1 ft) long and had an estimated age of four years. New expeditions to the area of the rediscovery are planned in the hope of finding more individuals and possibly a breeding population. [http://www.expatica.com/es/articles/news/Canary-island-giant-lizard-sighting-gives-hope-to-local-biologists.html Canary island giant lizard sighting gives hope to local biologists] EL PAÍS "via" expatica.com. Accessed 28/12-2007]

Unfortunately, the present material of "G. auaritae" does not allow for sufficiently detailed analyses of its phylogenetic status. Probably it belongs to the "simonyi" clade like the other giant "Gallotia" species from the western islands, but whether it actually was as close to "G. simonyi" as presumed remains unverified. The reason for this is also that it was only discovered after the present species' description that "G. goliath" was not another local representative of "G. simonyi", as was previously assumed, but a more distantly related species (Maca-Meyer 2003).

ee also

* List of extinct animals of Europe

References

* Afonso, O.M. & Mateo, J.A. (2003): Los lagartos gigantes canarios: conservación creativa de poblaciones mínimas. "In:" Jiménez, I. & Delibes, M. (eds): "Al Borde de la Extinción: Integrando Ciencia, Política y Sociedad en la Recuperación de Especies Amenazadas". Evren, Valencia [http://www.evren.es/html/presentacionlibro/pdf/bordeextincion.pdf PDF abstract]

* Barahona, F.; Evans, S. E.; Mateo, J.A.; García-Márquez, M. & López-Jurado, L.F. (2000): Endemism, gigantism and extinction in island lizards: the genus "Gallotia" on the Canary Islands. "J. Zool." 250(3): 373-388. doi|10.1017/S0952836900003101 (HTML abstract)

* Maca-Meyer, N.; Carranza, S.; Rando, J.C.; Arnold, E.N. & Cabrera, V.M. (2003): Status and relationships of the extinct giant Canary Island lizard "Gallotia goliath" (Reptilia: Lacertidae), assessed using ancient mtDNA from its mummified remains. "Biol. J. Linn. Soc." 80(4): 659–670. DOI|10.1111/j.1095-8312.2003.00265.x (HTML abstract)

* Mateo, J.A.; García-Márquez, M.; López-Jurado, L.F. & Barahona, F. (2001): Descripción del lagarto gigante de La Palma (Islas Canarias) a partir de restos subfósiles. "Revista Española de Herpetología" 15: 53-59. [Spanish with English abstract] [http://www.herpetologica.org/revista/rev15_resumen53-59.pdf PDF abstract]

* Database entry includes a range map and a brief justification of why this species is listed as extinct

External links

* [http://extinct.petermaas.nl The Extinction Website]
* [http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/12/19/ciencia/1198058656.html "Found in La Palma a species thought to be extinct" (in spanish)]