NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Cave Tropical Night Lizard
Lepidophyma micropholis Walker, 1955
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
Lepidophyma micropholis, the cave tropical night lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Xantusiidae. It is a small lizard found in Mexico. It is native to caves in the Sierra del Abra Tanchipa, part of the Sierra Madre Oriental in eastern San Luis Potosí and adjacent southern Tamaulipas states.
Wikipedia contributors, Lepidophyma micropholis; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:43:29.004819+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Lepidophyma micropholis Walker, 1955
- Name authority
- Walker, 1955
- Common name
- Cave Tropical Night Lizard
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Xantusiidae
- Genus
- Lepidophyma
- 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
- suborderAutarchoglossa
- familyXantusiidae
- subfamilyLepidophyminae
- genusLepidophyma
- speciesLepidophyma micropholis Walker, 1955
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Lepidophyma. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Sunidero Tropical Night LizardLepidophyma cuicatecum Canseco-Marquez, Gutiierez-Mayen & Mendoza-Hernandez, 2008 | XantusiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gaige's Tropical Night LizardLepidophyma gaigeae Mosauer, 1936 | XantusiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Lowe’s Tropical Night LizardLepidophyma lowei Bezy & Camarillo, 1997 | XantusiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Mayan Tropical Night LizardLepidophyma mayae Bezy, 1973 | XantusiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Yautepec Tropical Night LizardLepidophyma radula (Smith, 1942) | XantusiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Costa Rican Tropical Night LizardLepidophyma reticulatum Taylor, 1955 | XantusiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Madrean Tropical Night LizardLepidophyma sylvaticum Taylor, 1939 | XantusiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Tuxtla Tropical Night LizardLepidophyma tuxtlae Werler & Shannon, 1957 | XantusiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Lipetz's Tropical Night LizardLepidophyma lipetzi Smith & Del Toro, 1977 | XantusiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Tarascan Tropical Night LizardLepidophyma tarascae Bezy, Webb & Álvarez, 1982 | XantusiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Lepidophyma inagoi Palacios-Aguilar, Santos-Bibiano & Flores-Villela, 2018 | XantusiidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Lepidophyma lusca Arenas-Moreno, Muñoz-Nolasco, Bautista-Del Moral, Rodríguez-Miranda, Domínguez-Guerrero & Méndez-De LA Cruz, 2021 | XantusiidaeChordata | 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=Lepidophyma&species=micropholis 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:3TCJH. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.