Taiwan Japalure

About the Taiwan Japalure

Diploderma swinhonis, also known commonly as the Taiwan japalure, Swinhoe's japalure, Swinhoe's lizard, and Swinhoe's tree lizard (Chinese: 斯文豪氏攀蜥), is a species of draconid lizard native to Taiwan. It is also an invasive alien species in Japan, after likely being introduced from Taiwan. A foraging ambush predator, this lizard preys primarily on arthropods and remains at the bottom of forests. The male D. swinhonis is physically distinct from the female, with its body size being much larger and having a yellow stripe.

Both the specific name, swinhonis, and some of the common names are in honour of English naturalist Robert Swinhoe. In Latin, its generic name, Diploderma, can be broken down into Diplo-, which means "many", and derma, which means "skin". It is also referred to by the common name japalure, which is an outdated common name used to previously identify lizards of the genus Japalura. The generic name, Japalura, is speculated to have derived from an Indian word.

There are issues with the history of taxonomic classification for Swinhoe's tree lizard. For one, Japalura swinhonis formosensis, which used to be thought of as a subspecies to Swinhoe... Wikipedia →