Dryadosaura nordestina Rodrigues, Freire, Pellegrino & Sites, 2005

Uchoa, Lucas Rafael, Delfim, Fagner Ribeiro, Mesquita, Daniel Oliveira, Colli, Guarino Rinaldi, Garda, Adrian Antonio & Guedes, Thais B., 2022, Lizards (Reptilia: Squamata) from the Caatinga, northeastern Brazil: Detailed and updated overview, Vertebrate Zoology 72, pp. 599-659 : 599

Dryadosaura nordestina Rodrigues, Freire, Pellegrino & Sites, 2005

Figs 5.6 and 15

Type locality.

João Pessoa, state of Paraíba, Brazil.

Distribution.

In the Caatinga it is registered in the states of Bahia, Paraíba, Pernambuco, and Rio Grande do Norte. It is widespread in the Caatinga and occurs along three ecoregions (Table 1 ; Appendix S3). Distributed in low to high elevation areas (34-739 m a.s.l.), with annual mean temperature 21 to 26°C, and average annual rainfall between 542 and 1,479 mm.

Ecological notes.

Fossorial and diurnal ( Rodrigues et al. 2005). Occurring in areas of semideciduous forest ( Mesquita et al. 2018), dry forest (FRD pers. obs.) and tabuleiros with dry vegetation and in remnants of Atlantic Forest in the Northeast in small forest fragments, influenced by the forest edge effect ( Garda et al. 2014). Diet based mainly on arthropods, being Formicidae , insect larvae and Araneae the most representative items. Ovi-parous, the female usually lays two eggs at a time ( Garda et al. 2014).

Figures

Figure 5. Lizards recorded in the Caatinga region. 5.1 Calyptommatus sinebrachiatus; 5.2 Cercosaura olivacea; 5.3 Colobosaura modesta; 5.4 Colobosauroides carvalhoi; 5.5 Colobosauroides cearensis; 5.6 Dryadosaura nordestina; 5.7 Heterodactylus septentrionalis and 5.8 Leposoma baturitensis. Photograph credits: Ricardo Marques (5.1), Mauro Teixeira (5.4), Daniel Mesquita (5.3), Kassio Araujo (5.5), Marco A. Freitas (5.7), Adrian Garda (5.2, 5.6).