THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY
Loading taxon account
Retrieving account information and occurrence data...

Reptilia    Squamata (part-other lizards)    Leiocephalidae  
Red-sided Curly-tailed Lizard
Leiocephalus schreibersii (Gravenhorst, 1837)
LAY-oh-SEF-ah-lus — SHRY-ber-see-eye
Taxon Links
iNaturalist
The Reptile Database
Catalog of American Amphibians and Reptiles
NatureServe
GenBank
USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database

SSAR 9th Edition Comments:
 Native to Hispaniola. It was introduced via the pet trade prior to 1978 in Miami, Miami-Dade County, Florida but failed to establish (Wilson and Porras, 1983, University of Kansas Special Publication: 1–89). It was subsequently introduced and is established in Broward, Charlotte, and Miami-Dade counties, Florida (Krysko and Burgess, 2008, Herpetological Review 39: 368; Alfonso and Krysko, 2019, Leiocephalus schreibersii. Pages 393–395 in Krysko et al. (Editors) Amphibians and Reptiles of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida). The English name Red-sided Curlytail is used by Hedges et al. (2019, Caribbean Herpetology (67): 1–53). (Krysko, Kenneth and Travis W. Taggart. 2025. Established Exotic Species. Pages 64-87 in Kirsten E. Nicholson (Editor), Scientific and Standard English Names of Amphibians and Reptiles of North America North of Mexico, with Comments Regarding Confidence in Our Understanding, 9th Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Lawrence, Kansas. 87 pp.)

(,   Museum Voucher) (,   Observation) (,   Literature Record), (,   Citizen Science), (  Fossil)
Open icons indicate questionable records, including those with coordinate uncertainty greater than 10,000 m (approximately 6 miles). Click a marker to view metadata.
Occurrences:; 1,100 Total; 917 Museum; 183 Other

The locality database contains 8,094,832 records, and geographic and taxonomic errors exist. Logged-in, registered users may report a potential issue directly from the marker popup.
Shaded range maps are based on curated specimens and provided gratis by CNAH. (Version: 2024.07.01.16.26.07)
Download map data (GeoJSON):
Polygon Range File Museum Literature Fossil Personal Observation Citizen Science

Province/State Distribution:
United States: Florida

Taxonomic Etymology:
Named in honor of an Austrian zoologist.
Leiocephalus — From Greek leios (λεῖος), “smooth,” and kephalē (κεφαλή), “head.” The name means “smooth head,” referring to the relatively smooth scalation of the head compared to the rest of the body.
schreibersii — A patronym honoring Carl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers (1775–1852), an Austrian naturalist and director of the Vienna Natural History Museum, recognized for his contributions to zoology.

First instance(s) of published English names:
Lyon Lizard (Lacertus griseus: Catesby, Mark. 1754. The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands: Containing the Figures of Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Serpents, Insects, and Plants: Particularly the Forest-trees, Shrubs, and other Plants, not Hitherto Described, or Very Incorrectly Figured by Authors. Together with Their Descriptions in English and French. To which, are Added Observations on the Air, Soil, and Waters: with Remarks upon Agriculture, Grain, Pulse, Roots, &c. To the Whole, is Prefixed a New and Correct Map of the Countries Treated of. , London. pp.); Red-sided Curlytail (Leiocephalus schreibersii: Hedges, S. Blair, Robert Powell, Robert W. Henderson, Sarah Hanson, and John C. Murphy. 2019. Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology (67):1–53);


Selected References:
1838 Gravenhorst, Johann L. C. Beiträge zur genaueren Kenntniss einiger Eidechsengattungen. [Contributions to the detailed knowledge of some lizard genera.]. Nova Acta Academia Caesareae Leopoldino-Carolinae [New Proceedings of the Academy of Caesarea Leopoldino-Carolina] 18:712-784
1983 Wilson, Larry D. and Louis Porras. The ecological impact of man on the South Florida herpetofauna. University of Kansas Special Publication 9(9):1-89
1995 Schreiber, Michael C., Powell, Robert, and Parmerlee, John S., Jr. Leiocephalus schreibersii. Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles (613):1-4
2019 Hedges, S. Blair, Robert Powell, Robert W. Henderson, Sarah Hanson, and John C. Murphy. Definition of the Caribbean Islands biogeographic region, with checklist and recommendations for standardized common names of amphibians and reptiles. Caribbean Herpetology (67):1–53

THE CENTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN HERPETOLOGY — Accessed: Monday 21 September 2026 07:43 CT
Site concept, design, and programming: Travis W. Taggart (CNAH President/Executive Director).
CNAH usage since 31 August 2026: 139,213 human page views • 71,893 visitors • 44,868 file accesses