Mesalina pasteuri, also known commonly as Pasteur's lizard, is a species of sand-dwelling lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to North Africa.
Etymology
The specific name, pasteuri, is in honor of French biologist .
Geographic range
M. pasteuri occurs in Algeria, Egypt, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, and Western Sahara.
Habitat
The preferred habitat of M. pasteuri is desert.
Description
M. pasteuri may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of . The holotype, which measures SVL, has a tail long.
Reproduction
M. pasteuri is oviparous.
References
Further reading
- (1960). "Description d'un nouveau lézard du Sahara: Eremias pasteuri, sp. nov. (Lacertidés) ". Comptes rendus des séances mensuelles de la Société des Sciences naturelles et physiques du Maroc (4): 69âÂÂ71. (Eremias pasteuri, new species). (in French).
- ; ; (1996). Amphibians and Reptiles of North Africa: Biology, Systematics, Field Guide. Koenigstein, Germany: Koeltz Scientific Books. 627 pp. . (Mesalina pasteuri, p. 423).
- ; (2008). The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic: 1. Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Turtles, Crocodiles, Amphisbaenians and Lizards of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia. Latina, Italy: Edizioni Belvedere. 580 pp. .
- ; ; (2012). Lézards, crocodiles et tortues d'Afrique occidentale et du Sahara. Paris: IRD Orstom. 503 pp. . (in French).