Tupinambis teguixin
(Linnaeus, 1758)
two-pin-AM-bis —
SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
Native to Brazil, Paraguay, eastern Uruguay, and northern Argentina. It was introduced via the pet trade in 1990 in Seminole County, Florida but did not establish (Anonymous, 1990, The League of Florida Herpetological Societies Newsletter 1990: 24; Krysko et al., 2011, Zootaxa 3028: 1–64) and has since been found and established in many other areas in Florida (Krysko et al., 2011, op. cit.; Krysko et al., 2016, Reptiles & Amphibians 23: 110–143; Edwards et al., 2017, BioInvasions Records 6: 407–410; Edwards and Rochford, 2019, Tupinambis teguixin. Pages 437–438 in Krysko et al. (Editors) Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida).
Page 84: Add the following to end of the taxon comment. "Murphy et al. (2016, PLoS ONE 11: 1–30, e0158542) revised the T. teguixin group, recognizing four species from South America. Based on this revision, Pyron et al. (2019, BioInvasions Records 8: 465–470) identified three specimens collected in Miami-Dade County as Cryptic Golden Tegus (T. cryptus), likely originating from mainland Guyana or Venezuela." — (6/11/2025)
Range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH.
(Created by Travis W. Taggart; Version: 2024.04.15.13.43.53)
Download GeoJSON polygon range file: - 0.15 MB
Province/State Distribution:
First instance(s) of published English names:
No historic English names have been assigned to this taxon yet.
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
The Reptile Database
GenBank
USGS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database
Selected References:
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1758
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Linné, Carl von (=Linneaus). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. [System of Nature through the three kingdoms of nature, according to classes, orders, genera, species with characters, differences, synonyms, places.] 10th Edition, Volume 1, L. Salvius, Stockholm. iv + 826pp.
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2011
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Krysko, Kenneth L., Joseph P. Burgess, Michael R. Rochford, Christopher R. Gillette, Daniel Cueva, Kevin M. Enge, Louis A. Somma, Jennifer L. Stabile, Dustin C. Smith, Joseph A. Wasilewski, Guy N. Kieckhefer III, Michael C. Granatosky & Stuart V. Nielsen. Verified non-indigenous amphibians and reptiles in Florida from 1863 through 2010: Outlining the invasion process and identifying invasion pathways and stages. Zootaxa 3028(1):1-64
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2016
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Murphy, John C.,Michael J. Jowers,Richard M. Lehtinen,Stevland P. Charles,Guarino R. Colli,Ayrton K. Peres Jr,Catriona R. Hendry, and R. Alexander Pyron. Cryptic, sympatric diversity in Tegu lizards of the Tupinambis teguixin group (Squamata, Sauria, Teiidae) and the description of three new species. PLoSONE 11(18):e0158542
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2017
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Edwards, Jake R., Jennifer K. Ketterlin, Michael R. Rochford, Rodney Irwin, Kenneth L. Krysko, James G. Duquesnel, Frank J. Mazzotti, and Robert N. Reed. The Gold Tegu, Tupinambis teguixin (Linnaeus, 1758) sensu lato (Squamata: Teiidae): evidence for an established population in Florida BioInvasions Records 6(4):407–410
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2018
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Jarnevich, Catherine S., Mark A. Hayes, Lee A. Fitzgerald, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Bryan G. Falk, Michelle A. M. Collier, Lea’ R. Bonewell, Page E. Klug, Sergio Naretto, and Robert N. Reed. Modeling the distributions of tegu lizards in native and potential invasive ranges. Science Reports 8(10193):
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2018
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Silva, Marcélia B., Marco A. Ribeiro-Júnior, Teresa C. S. Ávila-Pires A new species of Tupinambis Daudin, 1802 (Squamata: Teiidae) from central South America. Journal of Herpetology 52(1):94-110
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2019
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Pyron, R. Alexander, Robert N. Reed, Timothy J. Solston, and Michael R. Rochford. Morphology and molecular data reveal invasion of cryptic Golden Tegus (Tupinambis cryptus Murphy et al., 2016) in Florida. BioInvasions Records 8(2):465-470
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