NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Luminous Lizard
Oreosaurus shrevei (Parker, 1935)
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
Oreosaurus shrevei, known commonly as the luminous lizard or Shreve's lightbulb lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Gymnophthalmidae. The species is endemic to the Northern Range of mountains of the island of Trinidad in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. This species was for some time erroneously alleged to be bioluminescent (hence its common name - luminous lizard).
Wikipedia contributors, Oreosaurus shrevei; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:49:02.738828+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Oreosaurus shrevei (Parker, 1935)
- Name authority
- (Parker, 1935)
- Common name
- Luminous Lizard
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Gymnophthalmidae
- Genus
- Oreosaurus
- 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
- familyGymnophthalmidae
- genusOreosaurus
- speciesOreosaurus shrevei (Parker, 1935)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Oreosaurus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Oreosaurus mcdiarmidi (Kok & Rivas, 2011) | GymnophthalmidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Lightbulb LizardOreosaurus luctuosus (Peters, 1863) | GymnophthalmidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Oreosaurus inanis (Doan & Schargel, 2003) | GymnophthalmidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Oreosaurus cephalolineatus Garcia-Perez & Yustiz, 1995 | GymnophthalmidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Proctoporus (Oreosaurus) shrevei Parker, 1935 Parker, 1935 | synonym |
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=Oreosaurus&species=shrevei 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:8GQ4G. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.