Ameiva

Ameiva, commonly called jungle-runners, is a genus of whiptail lizards that belongs to the family Teiidae.

Geographic range

Member species of the genus Ameiva are found in South America, Central America and the Caribbean (West Indies). Their major habitat in four regions of Brazil include: Caatinga, Cerrado, the Amazonian rain forest, and the Amazonian savanna.<ref>"Geographical ecology of a Neotropical lizard: AMeiva ameiva (Teiidae) in Brazil"</ref> Additionally, Ameiva ameiva has been introduced to Florida in the United States.<ref>Conant R (1975). A Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America, Second Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. xviii + 429 pp. + Plates 1-48. Template:ISBN (hardcover), Template:ISBN (paperback). (Ameiva ameiva, pp. 120-121 + Plate 17 + Map 92).</ref>

Species

Sourced from "The Reptile Database".<ref>Ameiva. The Reptile Database. http://www.reptile-database.org.</ref>

Image	Name	Distribution
	Ameiva aggerecusans Template:Small	Peru
File:Amazon Racerunner, male.jpg	Ameiva ameiva Template:Small – giant ameiva, green ameiva, South American ground lizard, Amazon racerunner	Central, South America, and some Caribbean Islands.
File:Giant ameiva (Ameiva atrigularis).jpg	Ameiva atrigularis Template:Small – giant ameiva, Amazon racerunner	Trinidad and Tobago and in Venezuela.
	Ameiva bifrontata Template:Small – Cope's ameiva	Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba.
	Ameiva concolor Template:Small	Peru.
File:Ameiva fuliginosa.jpg	Ameiva fuliginosa Template:Small	Isla de Providencia, San Andrés, and the Swan Islands.
	Ameiva jacuba Template:Small	Brazil.
	Ameiva nodam Template:Small	Peru.
	Ameiva pantherina Template:Small	Venezuela.
	Ameiva parecis Template:Small	Brazil.
File:Ameiva praesignis 44744254.jpg	Ameiva praesignis Template:Small – giant ameiva, Amazon racerunner	Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, and Colombia.
	Ameiva provitaae Template:Small	Venezuela.
	Ameiva reticulata Template:Small	Peru.
File:Ameiva tobagana in grenada.jpg	Ameiva tobagana Template:Small – Antillean ameiva	Grenada and St. Vincent.

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Ameiva.

Further reading

• Meyer FAA (1795). Synopsis reptilium, novam ipsorum sistens generum methodum, nec non Gottingensium huius ordinis animalium enumerationem. Göttingen: van den Hoek and Ruprecht. 32 pp. (Ameiva, new genus, p. 27). (in Latin).