Gallotia simonyi simonyi

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Kingdom Animalia

A male Lacerta simonyi (= Gallotia simonyi simonyi) from the "Rock of Zalmo, near Hierro" by Peter J. Smit from Boulenger (1891), plate XVIII. This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired. This applies to the European Union, Canada, the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 70 years.

Phylum Chordata
Class Reptilia
Order Squamata
Family Lacertidae
Subfamily Gallotiinae
Genus Gallotia
Species Gallotia simonyi
Subspecies Gallotia simonyi simonyi
Authority (Steindachner, 1889)
 
English Name Roque Chico de Salmor Giant Lizard
Dutch Name Roque Chico de Salmor Reuzenhagedis
Spanish Name Lagarto Gigante del Roque Chico del Salmor
 
Synonyms Lacerta simonyi Steindachner, 1889
 
Taxonomy In 1974, the German amateur herpetologist Werner Bings discovered a surviving population of the species Gallotia simonyi on El Hierros mainland (Böhme & Bings 1975; Wikipedia contributors 2009a). This surviving population is morphological different and subsequently determined to be a distinct subspecies Gallotia simonyi machadoi, 100 years after the species was first described on El Roque Chico de Salmor (López-Jurado 1989; Carranza et al. 1999; Wikipedia contributors 2009a). Recent research showed that both subspecies were identical in the 1725 base pairs (bp) of Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) compared, suggesting that the two subspecies are more similar than previously thought (Carranza et al. 1999) and that they were part of the same basic population until quite recently (Maca-Meyer 2003). However, these results do not necessarily indicate that the subspecies are genetically identical overall (Carranza et al. 1999). Faster evolving genetic material may possibly still show differences between them (Carranza et al. 1999). 
 
Characteristics The Roque Chico de Salmor Giant Lizard was different from the El Hierro Giant Lizard by the following characteristics: larger size, more robust build, a more triangular and more oval pileus, a more depressed head, and a larger less numerous temporal scales surrounding a clearly defined enlarged masseteric scale. The Roque Chico de Salmor Giant Lizard had also relatively longer hind legs. (Machado 1985; López-Jurado 1989; Carranza et al. 1999)
 
Range & Habitat This subspecies was once present on El Roque Chico de Salmor, a small islet 830 m from the northern coast of El Hierro in the Canary Islands, Spain (Machado 1985; Carranza et al. 1999; Mateo Miras & Pérez-Mellado 2006; Wikipedia contributors 2009b). The Roque Chico is 37 m high with a surface area of less than 10.000 m2 (Machado 1985). 

Image: a map showing the location of the island of El Hierro in the Canary Islands, Spain. El Hierro is marked by a red circle. This image has been released under the GNU Free Documentation License. 
 
History & Population Roque Chico de Salmor Lizards have been collected for museum specimens after its description by Steindachner in 1889, but none have been found later than about 1940 (Salvador 1971; Machado 1985, Carranza et al. 1999). Following this population's disappearance, the species was believed to be entirely extinct until Gallotia simonyi machadoi was discovered on the nearby island of El Hierro in 1974 (Böhme & Bings 1975; López-Jurado 1989; Wikipedia contributors 2009b).
 
Extinction Causes This subspecies disappeared around the 1930s through unsustainable collecting of animals for scientific institutions and commercial interests, as well as predation by feral cats and possibly Herring Gulls (Diaz & Bischoff 1994, Miras & Pérez-Mellado 2005; Wikipedia contributors 2009b).
 
Reintroduction The species (Gallotia simonyi) was successfully reintroduced to the Roque Chico de Salmor in 1999 (Mateo Miras & Pérez-Mellado 2006; Wikipedia contributors 2009b), but these lizards are the recently discovered subspecies Gallotia simonyi machadoi, the El Hierro Giant Lizard. Roque Chico de Salmor and El Hierro became separated a few thousands years ago at the end of the Pleistocene as a result of sea-level rise (Carranza et al. 1999). This suggest that the morphological differentiation between the two populations was rapid, and the introduced El Hierro subspecies could soon develop the morphological characteristics of the original Roque Chico de Salmor population (Carranza et al. 1999).
 
Museum Specimens About ten specimens of this subspecies are kept in museum collections, mainly preserved in alcohol. At least one female and one male specimen preserved in industrial methylated spirit (IMS) are kept in the Natural History Museum in London, England. (Carranza et al. 1999)
 
Relatives The Roque Chico de Salmor Giant Lizard's closest living relative is the surviving subspecies on the Canarian island El Hierro, the El Hierro Giant Lizard, Gallotia simonyi machadoi (Carranza et al. 1999). 

Photo: an El Hierro Giant Lizard (Gallotia simonyi machadoi) photographed in the Lagartario de Guinea on El Hierro by Nano Sanchez on 27 July 2007. This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder of this work. This applies worldwide.

Molecular analysis also shows that the El Hiero Giant Lizard (Gallotia simonyi), the Tenerife Speckled Lizard (Gallotia intermedia) and the Tenerife Giant Lizard (Gallotia gomerana) are members of an exclusive clade, the Gallotia simonyi group of very large lacertid lizards in the western Canary islands (Tenerife, La Gomera, El Hierro and La Palma) (Maca-Meyer 2003).
 
Links Roque Chico de Salmor Giant Lizard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

References

(Complete website)

 Böhme, W. & Bings, Werner (1975): Zur Frage des Überlebens von Lacerta s. simonyi Steindachner. Salamandra 11(1): 39-46.

Boulenger, G.A. (1891) - On Simony's Lizard, Lacerta simonyi. Proceedings of the Zoological Society, London, March 17: 201-202. Plates XVIII-XIX. Apresentado o exemplar à Zoological Society por Lord Lilford e coligido por Canon Tristram. Rock of Zalmo, Hierro, Canárias. Suplemento à descrição de Steindachner, 1889. Gallotia. Peter Smit del et lith.

Carranza, S., E. Nicholas Arnold, Richard H. Thomas, J. A. Mateo and L. F. López-Jurado. 1999. Status of the extinct giant lacertid lizard Gallotia simonyi simonyi (Reptilia: Lacertidae) assessed using mtDNA sequences from museum specimens. Herpetological Journal. 9 (2): 83-86.

Diaz, Carlos Naeslund & Bischoff, Wolfgang (1994): Studien am Roque Chico de Salmor bei El Hierro (Kanaren): 1. Mögliche Ursachen für das Aussterben von Gallotia simonyi, 2. Die Artzugehörigkeit seiner Geckos (Tarentola). Salamandra 30(4): 246-253.

European Environment Agency (2009): European Nature Information System (EUNIS): Species Factsheet: Gallotia simonyi simonyi. Downloaded on 2 January 2009.

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. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 80(4): 659–670. 

López-Jurado, L.F. (1989). A new Canarian lizard subspecies from Hierro Island (Canarian archipelago). Bonn. zool. Beitr. 40: 265-272.

Machado, A. (1985). New data concerning the Hierro Giant Lizard and the Lizard of Salmor (Canary Islands). Bonn. zool. Beitr. 36(3-4): 429-470.

Mateo Miras, J.A. & Pérez-Mellado, V. 2006. Gallotia simonyi. In: IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 02 January 2009.

Rodríguez-Domínguez, M. A., C. Castillo, J. J. Coello and M. Molina-Borja (1998). Morphological variation in the lacertid Gallotia simonyi machadoi and a comparison with the extinct Gallotia simonyi simonyi from el Hierro (Canary Islands). Herpetological Journal. 8(2):85-91.

Salvador, A. (1971). Nota sobre el lagarto negro gigante de Canarias, Lacerta simonyi. Bol. R. Soc. Espanola Hist. Nat. (Biol.) 69: 317-320.

Steindachner,F. (1889). Über eine von Prof. O. Simony auf den Roques del Zalmor bei Hierro, Canarische inseln, entdeckte neue Eidechsenart. Anz. Akad. Wien: 1889: 259-263.

Wikipedia contributors (2009a), 'El Hierro Giant Lizard', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 8 January 2009, 22:48 UTC, <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=El_Hierro_Giant_Lizard&oldid=262847718> [accessed 11 January 2009]

Wikipedia contributors (2009b), 'Roque Chico de Salmor Giant Lizard', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2 January 2009, 23:38 UTC, <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roque_Chico_de_Salmor_Giant_Lizard&oldid=261553561> [accessed 11 January 2009]

Last updated: 11th January 2009.

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