Cryptic golden tegu
Tupinambis cryptus Murphy, Jowers, Lehtinen, Charles, Colli, Peres Jr, Hendry & Pyron, 2016
Status not recordedlizards
The cryptic golden tegu (Tupinambis cryptus) is a species in the family Teiidae, order Squamata. Recorded adults weigh about 474 g and reach 23.1 cm in length.
No freely licensed photo yet
Quick facts about the cryptic golden tegu
- Weight
- 474 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- 23.1 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 8src for Young per litter or clutch
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the cryptic golden tegu?
Where does the cryptic golden tegu live?
Not recorded
Where has it been introduced?
The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the cryptic golden tegu as introduced in 1 country.
Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).
Is the cryptic golden tegu endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the cryptic golden tegu classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderSquamata
- familyTeiidae
- genusTupinambis
- SpeciesTupinambis cryptus Murphy, Jowers, Lehtinen, Charles, Colli, Peres Jr, Hendry & Pyron, 2016
Other names and names in other languages (9)
- Nordlig Broget TejuDanish
- Kryptischer GoldtejuGerman
- mato realSpanish
- Lobo pollero crípticoSpanish
- Mato de aguaSpanish
- mato polleroSpanish
- クリプティックテグーJapanese
- TeiúPortuguese
- TejuPortuguese
Relatives of the cryptic golden tegu
Other species in the same genus Tupinambis.
Gold tegu
Tupinambis teguixin
Rondônia tegu
Tupinambis longilineus
Swamp tegu
Tupinambis palustris
Four-lined tegu
Tupinambis quadrilineatus
Cusco tegu
Tupinambis cuzcoensis
Maracaibo Basin tegu
Tupinambis zuliensis
CompareCryptic golden tegu vs Gold teguCryptic golden tegu vs Rondônia teguCryptic golden tegu vs Swamp teguCryptic golden tegu vs Four-lined tegu
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the cryptic golden tegu?
An adult cryptic golden tegu weighs 474 g and measures 23.1 cm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the cryptic golden tegu an invasive species?
The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the cryptic golden tegu as introduced in 1 country: United States, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.
What kind of animal is the cryptic golden tegu?
The cryptic golden tegu (Tupinambis cryptus) belongs to the family Teiidae in the order Squamata.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS) · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-11-13
Pagad, S., Genovesi, P., Carnevali, L., Schigel, D. & McGeoch, M.A. (2018) Introducing the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species. Scientific Data 5: 170202. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.202. Country checklists published through GBIF by the IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group. - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Cryptic golden tegu (Tupinambis cryptus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/cryptic-golden-tegu
“Cryptic golden tegu (Tupinambis cryptus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/cryptic-golden-tegu.
@misc{cryptic_golden_tegu_2026,
title = {Cryptic golden tegu (Tupinambis cryptus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/cryptic-golden-tegu},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}