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Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:59 pm Post subject: Paraguayan and Argentina
can someone tell me or show me the difference between a Paraguayan Black and White and an Argentina Black and White...i've seen some pictures and they look the same to me...
what is the difference?
Joined: Nov 06, 2004 Posts: 972269 Location: Central Maine
Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 12:22 am Post subject:
They are both the same species, T.merianae. It's just a regional thing. I am a Mainer because I am from Maine.
Basically Paraguay is bordering Argentine, on the top. So T.merianae tegus collected Argentina are Argentine and those from slightly above Argentine are Paraguian.
so they are the same thing, just collected in different places? so if one little guy from argentina ran up to paraguay and was captured, he'd be sold as paraguayan? k i guess that makes since...
can some argentina's have full black heads? or its that a different type? also would they be more expensive? i saw one in the agama photo album and thought it was beautiful! so i wanna find one like it!
Yes, Tupinambis merianae can have all black heads, infact, completely black body as well, orange bellies, black and gold colouring, all white, red colouring, oranges, blueish tinges, etc., etc., they are a very polymorphic species.
Joined: Apr 23, 2005 Posts: 312 Location: Phoenix AZ
Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 5:36 pm Post subject:
yep, I second that. The real thing to watch for is people charging more for various diffferent localities of Argentine BWs. I'v heard some interesting storys about T.Ms being billed as all sorts of different things in an attempt to get some poor fool to fork out WAY too much for one.
Its a real shame how many freaking swindlers there are in this business . I'll never forget paying $400 for a stupid constrictor imperator that some con man convinced me was going to grow a black stripe or some garabe. I'm sure he was really proud of himself for hoodwinking a 16 yr. old kid.
*Sigh* on top of that the boa turned out to have IBD and died six months later. The moral of the story is BE CAREFUL and check with knowledgable people that you TRUST before you fall for some story about a "black striped boas" or "Orange Tegus" _________________ Elliot
In the UK, some people have tegus which they describe as Chacoan, or Chacoan white-headed merianae. Are there regional populations which look consistently distinctive, or is the variation equally spread between populations, if you see what I mean?
Also, there seem to be quite a few young tegus here at the moment. I suspect that these are WC. Presumably this means that they are from Paraguay?
From what little I know (I'll fully admit I didn't go running all over south america looking at regional distinctiveness), it appears that most populations have a fair bit of variety in their general colour morphology. However, within certain regions, certain colour morphs tend to dominate. That being said, hobbyists have developed an erection over morphs or new forms, and suppliers are taking advantage of it. People will shell out more dollars if they think they've got something special. Considering the uncertainty of exports and the wholesale trade, the strangely typical unscrupulous tendencies of captive breeder/providers (I'm not accusing all captive breeders, there are some good ones), and just the shear ignorance of not only hobbyists but also scientists in respect to population traits and species distinctions, I wouldn't place any bets on anything being what it is described to be. Unless someone provided clear documentation of exporting permits, exact geographic coordinates of where the parental lineage was collected, etc., I wouldn't trust a claim of a "Chacoan white-head" or "Colombian blue" even if I were paid to.
There are some trends within the T.merianae distribution that are helpful, but not necessarily distinctive. T.merianae appear to adhere to Bergmann's rule, meaning that populations nearer to the equator are generally smaller in body size, and tend to get larger in size as you get nearer the poles. They also tend to have dark noses in geographic regions that see more moisture - so the coastal, Amazon and Pantanal regions. Anything else I cannot clearly say.
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. I'll never forget paying $400 for a stupid constrictor imperator that some con man convinced me was going to grow a black stripe or some garabe. I'm sure he was really proud of himself for hoodwinking a 16 yr. old kid. 
