A New Locality, Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, for the Rare Lizard Leiocephalus onaneyi (Guantánamo Striped Curlytail) and Notes on its Natural History

Kristin A. Bakkegard; David A. Johnson; Daniel G. Mulcahy

A New Locality, Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, for the Rare Lizard Leiocephalus onaneyi (Guantánamo Striped Curlytail) and Notes on its Natural History

Kristin A. Bakkegard¹^,*, David A. Johnson¹, and Daniel G. Mulcahy²

¹Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Samford University, Birmingham, AL 35229, USA. ²Global Genome Initiative, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA. *Corresponding author.

Caribbean Naturalist, No. 79 (2020)

Abstract
Leiocephalus onaneyi (Guantánamo Striped Curlytail) was known only from its type locality, Loma de Macambo, a mountain in the Cuban province of Guantánamo. We report a second locality for this species, Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, which is ~50 km southwest of the type locality. We used phenotype and DNA analyses to confirm identity. Habitat, elevation, and geology differ from the type locality. We observed juveniles over multiple years, indicating successful reproduction. We also provide data on the thermal environment, lizard community, and potential predators of L. onaneyi at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay. The discovery of L. onaneyi, listed as critically endangered by the IUCN and Cuba, at a second site is significant for the conservation of this species.

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