U.S. Department of Agriculture: Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Date of this Version
February 2002
Abstract
The Palm Beach County introduction of the exotic northern curly-tailed lizard (Leiocephalus carinatus armouri) was reported to have occurred as a result of 20 pairs released in Palm Beach during the 1940s, with an expanded range of approximately 20 city blocks by 1959 (see reviews in Duellman and Sehwartz 1958, King 1960. Weigl et. al. 1969). By 1968, this population had extended 3.2 km north and 5.6 km south (Weigl et al. 1969). By 1986, the species was common farther south at Woolbright Road and the Intracoastal Waterway in Boynton Beach (Smith and Engeman in press); and later was reported 16 May 1999 at the extreme southern end of Martin County (Hauge and Butterfield 20001, which sits an the northern border of Palm Beach County. A recent survey of this population conducted in September 2002 suggested a minimum north-south range expansion of at least 46.3 km south, and 34.1 km north, beyond the 1968 boundaries (Smith et al. in review).
Comments
Published by Florida Field Naturalist 30(4):132-133, 2002.