Takydromus viridipunctatus
The green spotted grass lizard is endemic to Taiwan and distributed in low-elevation areas of northern Taiwan. It was originally thought to be a northern population of the Formosan grass lizard (Takydromus formosanus). In 2008, based on morphological characteristics and molecular evidence, professors Lue Kuang-Yang and Lin Si-Min determined that this was an independent species and named it the green spotted grass lizard due to the inkjet-like green spots along the sides of the males. These are brown grass lizards with obvious seasonal sexual dichromatism. During the breeding season, males exhibit bright green spots along the sides of the body, while females are completely brown. This species has three pairs of chin shields and two pairs of femoral pores. The green spotted grass lizard is one of the most thoroughly researched grass lizard species in the world. Its life history, body coloration function, and tail shedding behavior and regenerative mechanism have all been elucidated. If you are interested in learning more about this species, you can watch a short educational film or read relevant research articles.
Green spotted grass lizard educational short film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXVMuBXm5bE
Life history research: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40851-019-0152-0
Coloration function research: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-34284-z
Tail shedding and regeneration research:
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2016.2538
Speciation research:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790315001244
