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."Geographical ecology of a Neotropical lizard: AMeiva ameiva (Teiidae) in Brazil" Additionally, Ameiva ameiva has been introduced to Florida in the United States.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. (hardcover), (paperback). (Ameiva ameiva, pp. 120-121 + Plate 17 + Map 92).
Species Sourced from "The Reptile Database".Ameiva. The Reptile Database. http://www.reptile-database.org. Image Name Distribution Ameiva aggerecusans Peru Ameiva ameiva – giant ameiva, green ameiva, South American ground lizard, Amazon racerunner Central, South America, and some Caribbean Islands. Ameiva atrigularis – giant ameiva, Amazon racerunner Trinidad and Tobago and in Venezuela. Ameiva bifrontata – Cope's ameiva Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba. Ameiva concolor Peru. Ameiva fuliginosa Isla de Providencia, San Andrés, and the Swan Islands. Ameiva jacuba Brazil. Ameiva nodam Peru. Ameiva pantherina Venezuela. Ameiva parecis Brazil. Ameiva praesignis – giant ameiva, Amazon racerunner Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, and Colombia. Ameiva provitaae Venezuela. Ameiva reticulata Peru. Ameiva tobagana – 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.
References
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).