Gallotia goliath
| Gallotia goliath Temporal range: Late Pleistocene-Holocene
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| Skull in Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre of Santa Cruz de Tenerife .
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Lacertidae |
| Genus: | Gallotia |
| Species: | †G. goliath
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| Binomial name | |
| †Gallotia goliath Mertens, 1942
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| Synonyms | |
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Gallotia goliath (the Tenerife giant lizard or goliath Tenerife lizard[2]) is an extinct giant lizard species from the island of Tenerife of the Canary Islands, Spain. This reptile lived before the arrival of humans and is believed to have grown to at least 0.9 metres (3.0 ft) long.[3] It was described by the German herpetologist Robert Mertens. Fossils of this lizard have been found in volcanic caves, where they often appear with those of other animals, like the Tenerife giant rat.
Classification
Prehistoric Gallotia remains have been assigned to the
Characteristics
G. goliath was the largest reptile in the Canary Islands, reaching a length of 120 to 125 cm (3.94 to 4.10 ft) but based on the finding of a 13.5 cm (5.3 in) skull in 1952, there could have been even larger specimens. These giant lizards inhabited the coastal lowlands of the island.[6]
Extinction
It inhabited Tenerife from the late Pleistocene through the Holocene until the fifteenth century of our era. Bone remains of this species have been found in different archaeological sites with marks that show that they were consumed by the aborigines of the island (Guanches). There is written documentation about its existence in the fifteenth century, so its extinction must have occurred in the years after the conquest of the Canaries by the Castilians.
Gallery
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Mummified specimen in Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre. -
Model in Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre. -
Life restoration, based on known remains and extant Gallotia lizards. A canary (Serinus canaria) is shown for size reference -
Reconstruction of Gallotia goliath with an average human hand and Algyroides fitzingeri to scale.
See also
Notes
- ^ Bravo, Telésforo. Lacerta maxima n. sp. de la fauna continental extinguida del Pleistoceno de las Canarias. Instituto "Lucas Mallada" de Investigaciones Geológicas, 1953.
- ^ "The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database Extinct Reptiles: Gallotia goliath". Archived from the original on 2017-03-17. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
- ^ Barahona et al., 2000, p. 381
- ^ Barahona et al., 2000
- ^ Maca-Meyer et al., 2003
- ISBN 84-611-0482-X.
References
- Barahona, F.; Evans, S. E.; Mateo, J. A.; García-Márquez, M.; López-Jurado, L. F. (March 2000). "Endemism, gigantism and extinction in island lizards: the genus Gallotia on the Canary Islands". Journal of Zoology. 250 (3): 373–388. hdl:10553/19918.
- Maca-Meyer, N.; Carranza, S.; Rando, J. C.; Arnold, E. N.; Cabrera, V. M. (1 December 2003). "Status and relationships of the extinct giant Canary Island lizard Gallotia goliath (Reptilia: Lacertidae), assessed using ancient mtDNA from its mummified remains". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 80 (4): 659–670. .