The Martinique Giant Ameiva (Ameiva major) was a species of lizard

Lizard

Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...

 in the Teiidae

Teiidae

Teiidae is a family of lizards native to the Americas, generally known as whiptails. The group includes the parthenogenic genera Cnemidophorus and Aspidoscelis, and the non-parthenogenic Tupinambis. It has over 230 member species in ten genera...

 family.
It is believed to have been endemic to Martinique

Martinique

Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...

, though at least one scholar disputes this, instead placing it on Les Iles de la Petite Terre

Petite Terre Islands

Petite Terre Islands are two small uninhabited islands located about to the south-east of the island of Grande-Terre in the archipelago of Guadeloupe, itself in the Lesser Antilles...

 within the Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...

an archipelago. It is known only from museum specimens collected by early European explorers. Its extinction may have been caused by a hurricane.

External links

• Ameiva major at the Encyclopedia of Life
  Encyclopedia of Life
  The Encyclopedia of Life is a free, online collaborative encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science. It is compiled from existing databases and from contributions by experts and non-experts throughout the world...
  
  
• Ameiva major at the Reptile Database