| Rainbow Whiptail (Cnemidophorus lemniscatus (Linnaeus, 1758)) |
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Scientific name: Cnemidophorus lemniscatus (Linnaeus, 1758) Common name: Rainbow Whiptail French name: Cnemidophore galonné Order: Squamata Suborder: Sauria Family: Teiidae Size: Up to 30 cm. Males are larger than females. Habitat : Savannahs, clearings, sandy areas, open and dry places. Food: Insects and spiders. Reproduction : Some populations have males and a sexual reproduction. Other populations have only females and reproduction is done by parthenogenesis. Geographic area: South of Central America, starting from Guatemala, north of South America south to northern Brazil. Introduced to Florida. |
The Rainbow Whiptail is known to be one of the fastest lizard in the world with a peak speed of 30km/h (but during a very short time). During the breeding season, males show pale blue head and throat. The remaining part of the body is green. Females and juveniles are brown with yellow longitudinal lines. They show a golden sheen under the sun light. The Rainbow Whiptail is observed on the ground but also climbs very easily upon low growing vegetation. We may deal with several similar species called the species of the Cnemidophorus lemniscatus group. I have read that populations with a parthenogenetic reproduction are often listed as Cnemidophorus cryptus. The single or split vertebral band and other morphological characters, often only visible after capture, are used to tell species of the group apart. |
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I have shot this picture on the Îles du Salut (Islands of Salvation in English, in fact on the Île Royale). The dark upper side with pale longitudinal lines indicates one female or one juvenile. Here is one example of the ability of the Rainbow Whiptail to climb upon low growing vegetation. |
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I have shot this picture at Awala Yalimapo, les Hattes, while walking on a footpath going southwards from the D22 road. Some photographers use a post-processing software to get the fully coloured main subject on a black and white back ground. The bright colours of this small lizard on a greyish background give an almost similar effect but 100% natural guaranteed and without any post-processing. |
André Bon June 2014