biology

Hispaniolan curlytail lizard

Hispaniolan curlytail lizard is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hispaniolan curlytail lizard rather than just read about it. In short: The Hispaniolan curlytail lizard (Leiocephalus schreibersii), also known as the Hispaniolan khaki curlytail, the red-sided curlytail lizard, the red-sided curly-tailed lizard, or Schreibers's curly-tailed lizard, is a common lizard species in the family Leiocephalidae. It is native to Hispaniola (in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic) in the Caribbean, and an introduced population is found in southern Florida.

Key takeaways

Hispaniolan curlytail lizard belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hispaniolan curlytail lizard to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hispaniolan curlytail lizard from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Hispaniolan curlytail lizard (Leiocephalus schreibersii), also known as the Hispaniolan khaki curlytail, the red-sided curlytail lizard, the red-sided curly-tailed lizard, or Schreibers's curly-tailed lizard, is a common lizard species in the family Leiocephalidae. It is native to Hispaniola (in both Haiti and the Dominican Republic) in the Caribbean, and an introduced population is found in southern Florida. There are two recognized subspecies.

Taxonomy

Etymology The specific name, schreibersi, is in honor of Austrian naturalist Carl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers.

Subspecies Including the nominotypical subspecies, two subspecies are recognized as being valid.

Leiocephalus schreibersii nesomorus Schwartz, 1968 Leiocephalus schreibersii schreibersii (Gravenhorst, 1838) Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Leiocephalus.

Distribution and habitat L. schreibersii is indigenous to the main island of Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti), and Île de la Tortue. It is also found in Florida as an introduced species. The preferred natural habitat of L. schreibersii is shrubland at altitudes from sea level to 500 m (1,600 ft).

Life cycle and behavior L. schreibersii is oviparous. L. schreibersii is active during the day. It feeds mainly on insects.

References

Further reading Boulenger GA (1885). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume II. Iguanidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 497 pp. + Plates I-XXIV. ("Liocephalus [sic] schreibersii ", pp. 162–163). Gravenhorst JLC (1837). "Beiträge zur genaueren Kenntniss einiger Eidechsengattungen ". Verhandlungen der Kaiserlichen Leopoldinisch-Carolinischen Akademie der Naturforscher / Nova Acta Physico-Medica Academiae Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae Naturae Curiosorum 18: 712-784. (Pristonotus schreibersii, new species, pp. 739–742 + Plate LIV, figures 15, 16). (in German). Schwartz A (1968). "The Leiocephalus (Lacertilia, Iguanidae) of Hispaniola. III. Leiocephalus screibersi [sic], L. semilineatus, and L. pratensis ". Journal of Herpetology 1 (1-4): 39-63. (Leiocephalus schreibersi [sic] nesomorus, new subspecies, p. 47).

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hispaniolan curlytail lizard

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hispaniolan curlytail lizard claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hispaniolan curlytail lizard before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hispaniolan curlytail lizard ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hispaniolan curlytail lizard

In research: Hispaniolan curlytail lizard appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hispaniolan curlytail lizard in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hispaniolan curlytail lizard is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Endemic fauna of Hispaniola, IUCN Red List least concern species, Leiocephalus, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hispaniolan curlytail lizard outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Hispaniolan curlytail lizard” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Hispaniolan curlytail lizard in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hispaniolan curlytail lizard means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hispaniolan curlytail lizard out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hispaniolan curlytail lizard in simple terms?

Why does Hispaniolan curlytail lizard matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hispaniolan curlytail lizard?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hispaniolan curlytail lizard.