NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Balsas Armed Lizard
Ctenosaura clarki Bailey, 1928
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Ctenosaura clarki, commonly known as the Balsas armed lizard, Balsas spiny-tailed iguana, Michoacán dwarf spiny-tailed iguana, or nopiche, is a species of lizard in the family Iguanidae. The species native to Mexico.
Wikipedia contributors, Ctenosaura clarki; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:18:06.649767+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Ctenosaura clarki Bailey, 1928
- Name authority
- Bailey, 1928
- Common name
- Balsas Armed Lizard
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Iguanidae
- Genus
- Ctenosaura
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderIguania
- familyIguanidae
- genusCtenosaura
- speciesCtenosaura clarki Bailey, 1928
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Ctenosaura. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| San Esteban Spinytail IguanaCtenosaura conspicuosa Dickerson, 1919 | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Yellow-backed Spiny-tailed IguanaCtenosaura flavidorsalis Köhler & Klemmer, 1994 | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Baja California Spiny- tailed IguanaCtenosaura hemilopha (Cope, 1863) | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Nolasco Spiny-tailed IguanaCtenosaura nolascensis Smith, 1972 | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Oaxaca Spiny-tailed IguanaCtenosaura oaxacana Köhler & Hasbun, 2001 | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Roatan Spiny-tailed IguanaCtenosaura oedirhina de Queiroz, 1987 | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Guerreran Spiny-tailed IguanaCtenosaura pectinata (Wiegmann, 1834) | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Five-keeled Spiny-tailed IguanaCtenosaura quinquecarinata (Gray, 1842) | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Black IguanaCtenosaura similis (Gray, 1831) | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Northeastern Spinytail IguanaCtenosaura acanthura (Shaw, 1802) | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Baker's Spinytail IguanaCtenosaura bakeri Stejneger, 1901 | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Cape Spinytail IguanaCtenosaura macrolopha Smith, 1972 | IguanidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Ctenosaura&species=clarki Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:32765. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.