Central American Whiptail
Holcosus festiva occidentalis
Natural History:
The Central American Ameiva, also known as the Central American Whiptail, is a medium sized lizard from Central American that spends the majority of its time on the ground.
Like many skinks in North America, the Ameiva has a colourful juvenile stage which is black with a stripe running down their back which starts as yellow and turns to green and eventually blue as it reaches the tail. The sides of the Central American Whiptail are covered in spots that mirror this pattern but often with orange replacing yellow. As they mature, these colours fade often to the point where they are almost completely gone.
Like skinks and anoles they are able to drop their tail in order to distract predators. In doing so they are able to constrict the blood vessels around the base of the tail, where it breaks off to avoid bleeding. The detached tail contains large amount of nerve endings which continue to move, this draws the predator's attention allowing the rest of the lizard to escape. The tail will grow back but will never look the same afterwards as instead of the skeleton inside the tail being made up of bone it grows back as a hard cartilage. Provided the individual is eating well the tail can regrow as many times as needed.
although they resemble skinks both in behavior and superficially, Whiptails are not directly related to skinks but instead belong to a different group of new world lizards containing both Caiman Lizards and Tegus.
Ameivas are insectivores and will catch their prey with their sharp little teeth, some times they may also scavenge on dead insects although this behavior is rare due to the competition with the large amount of biodiversity that inhabits the rainforest
The Central American Ameiva, also known as the Central American Whiptail, is a medium sized lizard from Central American that spends the majority of its time on the ground.
Like many skinks in North America, the Ameiva has a colourful juvenile stage which is black with a stripe running down their back which starts as yellow and turns to green and eventually blue as it reaches the tail. The sides of the Central American Whiptail are covered in spots that mirror this pattern but often with orange replacing yellow. As they mature, these colours fade often to the point where they are almost completely gone.
Like skinks and anoles they are able to drop their tail in order to distract predators. In doing so they are able to constrict the blood vessels around the base of the tail, where it breaks off to avoid bleeding. The detached tail contains large amount of nerve endings which continue to move, this draws the predator's attention allowing the rest of the lizard to escape. The tail will grow back but will never look the same afterwards as instead of the skeleton inside the tail being made up of bone it grows back as a hard cartilage. Provided the individual is eating well the tail can regrow as many times as needed.
although they resemble skinks both in behavior and superficially, Whiptails are not directly related to skinks but instead belong to a different group of new world lizards containing both Caiman Lizards and Tegus.
Ameivas are insectivores and will catch their prey with their sharp little teeth, some times they may also scavenge on dead insects although this behavior is rare due to the competition with the large amount of biodiversity that inhabits the rainforest