Takydromus dorsalis
The Sakishima grass lizard is a green grass lizard that is found only on Ishigaki Island in the Ryukyu Islands. Its body is emerald green and its most obvious features are black lines across the eyes and tiny scales along the back. These tiny dorsal scales differ from the enlarged dorsal scales of most grass lizards and are a key characteristic for identification of this species. This species was published by zoologist Leonhard Stejneger in 1904. It is threatened in the wild. As such, it was listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2016.
Reptile research fact: Leonhard Stejneger was a Norwegian-American ornithologist and herpetologist. He worked as a researcher at the Smithsonian Institution for 58 years and published more than 400 zoological research papers and more than 100 new species. To express their gratitude for his contributions, later zoologists named many species after him, such as Stejneger’s paddy frog (Micryletta steinegeri), Stejneger’s leaf-toed gecko (Hemidactylus stejnegeri), and Stejneger’s bamboo snake (Pseudoxenodon stejnegeri) in Taiwan.
