Morphology and molecular data reveal invasion of cryptic golden tegus Tupinambis cryptus Murphy et al., 2016) in Florida

Golden Tegus (Tupinambis teguixin sensu lato) are native to South America and have established a reproducing population in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Recent work divided the Golden Tegu into four separate species, leaving the specific identity of Golden Tegus in Florida unknown. We used morphometric and mitochondrial data to determine the species identity and likely area of geographic origin for a specimen of Golden Tegu collected in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Our results indicate Cryptic Golden Tegus (Tupinambis cryptus) are the species established in Florida. Geographic origin is likely mainland Guyana or Venezuela.