Gallotia goliath

Classification

Prehistoric Gallotia remains have been assigned to the taxa G. maxima and G. goliath, the former supposedly occurring only on Tenerife, the latter on several islands. It was eventually determined, however, that G. maxima is a junior synonym of G. goliath, and that the latter was close to the El Hierro giant lizard (Gallotia simonyi); supposed goliath specimens from El Hierro, La Gomera, and La Palma (from the Cuevas de los Murciélagos) are probably just extremely large individuals of, respectively, the El Hierro, La Gomera (Gallotia bravoana) and La Palma (Gallotia auaritae) giant lizards. Based on DNA sequence analysis of mummified remains, G. goliath is a valid species that probably was restricted to Tenerife, and apparently was closer to the Tenerife speckled lizard (Gallotia intermedia) than to the El Hierro giant lizard.

Characteristics

G. goliath was the largest reptile in the Canary Islands, reaching a length of 120 to but based on the finding of a 13.5 cm skull in 1952, there could have been even larger specimens. These giant lizards inhabited the coastal lowlands of the island.

Palaeobiology

Palaeoecology

Paired analysis of the δ13C and δ15N analysis of G. goliath indicates that it was omnivorous and that it mostly consumed carbon that was ultimately derived from C3 plants. Although the two had similar diets, the δ13C and δ15N values of G. goliath also differed slightly from the Tenerife giant rat with which it coexisted, an isotopic sign of niche partitioning.

Extinction

It inhabited Tenerife from the late Pleistocene through the Holocene until the fifteenth century of our era. Bone remains of this species have been found in different archaeological sites with marks that show that they were consumed by the aborigines of the island (Guanches). There is written documentation about its existence in the fifteenth century, so its extinction must have occurred in the years after the conquest of the Canaries by the Castilians.

Gallery

File:Gallotia goliath mummy 2.JPG|Mummified specimen in Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre. File:Gallotia goliath restoration.JPG|Model in Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre. File:Tenerife giant lizard restoration.jpg|Life restoration, based on known remains and extant Gallotia lizards. A canary (Serinus canaria) is shown for size reference File:Gallotia goliath reconstruction.jpg|Reconstruction of Gallotia goliath with an average human hand and Algyroides fitzingeri to scale.

Notes

References

References

1. Bravo, Telésforo. ''Lacerta maxima'' n. sp. de la fauna continental extinguida del Pleistoceno de las Canarias. Instituto "Lucas Mallada" de Investigaciones Geológicas, 1953.
2. "The Recently Extinct Plants and Animals Database Extinct Reptiles: Gallotia goliath".
3. Barahona ''et al.'', 2000, p. 381
4. "Un bloque de más de 20 kilos saca a la luz a un lagarto canario con más de 700.000 años".
5. Barahona ''et al.'', 2000
6. Maca-Meyer et al., 2003
7. Martin, A.. (2006). "3. Aportaciones de D. Telesforo Bravo al conocimiento de la fauna de vertebrados terrestres de las islas Canarias". Instituto de Estudios Hispánicos de Canarias.
8. (21 February 2019). "Revisiting the Foraging Ecology and Extinction History of Two Endemic Vertebrates from Tenerife, Canary Islands". [[Quaternary (journal).