Trachylepis

<i>Trachylepis</i>

Trachylepis

Genus of lizards

Trachylepis is a skink genus in the subfamily Mabuyinae found mainly in Africa. Its members were formerly included in the "wastebin taxon" Mabuya, and for some time in Euprepis. As defined today, Trachylepis contains the clade of Afro-Malagasy mabuyas. The genus also contains a species from the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha, T. atlantica, and may occur in mainland South America with Trachylepis tschudii and Trachylepis maculata, both poorly known and enigmatic.[1] The ancestors of T. atlantica are believed to have rafted across the Atlantic from Africa during the last 9 million years.[2]

Quick Facts Trachylepis, Scientific classification ...
Trachylepis striata, African striped skink, Kruger Park
Trachylepis albilabris, Gabon

The generic name Trachylepis literally means "rough-scaled", referring to the fact that most of the species, though superficially smooth-scaled, have three or more slight longitudinal keels on their dorsal scales.[3]

Species

The following species are recognized as being valid (listed alphabetically by specific name).[4][5]

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Trachylepis.

References

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  1. [1]
    Miralles A, Chaparro JC, Harvey MB (2009). "Three rare and enigmatic South American skinks". Zootaxa 2012: 47–68.
  2. [2]
    Carranza, S.; Arnold, E.N. (2003). "Investigating the origin of transoceanic distributions: mtDNA shows Mabuya lizards (Reptilia, Scincidae) crossed the Atlantic twice". Systematics and Biodiversity. 1 (2): 275–282. Bibcode:2003SyBio...1..275C. doi:10.1017/S1477200003001099. S2CID 55799145. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
  3. [3]
    Jaeger, Edmund Carroll (1959). A Source-Book of Biological Names and Terms. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C. Thomas. 360 pp. ISBN 0-398-06179-3.
  4. [4]
    Trachylepis. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  5. [5]
    Koppetsch, Thore (2020-10-05). "A new species of Trachylepis (Squamata: Scincidae) from the Amhara Region, Ethiopia, and a key to the Ethiopian Trachylepis". Zootaxa. 4859 (1): 113–126. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4859.1.4. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 33056207. S2CID 222841954.
  6. [6]
    Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Mabuya gravenhorstii, p. 106).

Further reading

  • Fitzinger L (1843). Systema Reptilium, Fasciculus Primus, Amblyglossae. Vienna: Braumüller & Seidel. 106 pp. + indices. (Trachylepis, new genus, p. 22). (in Latin).
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