Lygosoma punctata
Encyclopedia
Lygosoma punctatum is a species of skink
found in India
and Sri Lanka
.
Distance between the end of snout and the fore-limb about 2 to 2/3 of the distance between axilla and groin; the snout is obtuse; lower eyelid has an undivided semitransparent disc; supranasals entire and are in contact with one another behind the rostral ; frontal longer than the frontoparietals and interparietal together; a pair of nuchals, rarely absent ; an enlarged temporal scale borders the outer margin of the parietal ; ear-opening about half as large as the eye-opening, with one or two minute lobules anteriorly ; 7 supralabials. the fifth below the middle of the eye, longer than the adjacent labials body covered with smooth subequal scales, 24 or 20, rarely 28, round the body ; 62 to 76 down the middle of the hack ; marginal preanals slightly enlarged. The adpressed limbs fail to meet by nearly twice the length of the fore-limb ; digits long, fourth toe distinctly longer than the third; 11 to 14 keeled lamellae under the fourth toe. Tail thick at the base, a little longer than the head and body. Brown above and on the side. Each scale with a dark basal spot. In the young the spots are joined into 4 or 6 longitudinal lines down the back. A yellowish dorsolateral streak beginning on the canthus rostralis strongly marked in the young. Lower surfaces yellowish-white, uniform, or each scale with a black central dot; tail reddish in the young.
of Systema Naturae
, he based his description on material from two different species. In 2003, a lectotype
was chosen to stabilise the nomenclature, separating the Asian species now called Lygosoma punctatum from the Africa
n species which had previously been known by that name, but which must now be referred to as Mabuya homalocephala.
Skink
Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae. Together with several other lizard families, including Lacertidae , they comprise the superfamily or infraorder Scincomorpha...
found in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
.
Description
Young skinks of this species have a distinctive red tail, but this colour is lost in adults. The red tail is replaced by small spots and these spots coalesce to form continuous lines as the individual ages. The dots are present on the head and extends to the snout.Distance between the end of snout and the fore-limb about 2 to 2/3 of the distance between axilla and groin; the snout is obtuse; lower eyelid has an undivided semitransparent disc; supranasals entire and are in contact with one another behind the rostral ; frontal longer than the frontoparietals and interparietal together; a pair of nuchals, rarely absent ; an enlarged temporal scale borders the outer margin of the parietal ; ear-opening about half as large as the eye-opening, with one or two minute lobules anteriorly ; 7 supralabials. the fifth below the middle of the eye, longer than the adjacent labials body covered with smooth subequal scales, 24 or 20, rarely 28, round the body ; 62 to 76 down the middle of the hack ; marginal preanals slightly enlarged. The adpressed limbs fail to meet by nearly twice the length of the fore-limb ; digits long, fourth toe distinctly longer than the third; 11 to 14 keeled lamellae under the fourth toe. Tail thick at the base, a little longer than the head and body. Brown above and on the side. Each scale with a dark basal spot. In the young the spots are joined into 4 or 6 longitudinal lines down the back. A yellowish dorsolateral streak beginning on the canthus rostralis strongly marked in the young. Lower surfaces yellowish-white, uniform, or each scale with a black central dot; tail reddish in the young.
Distribution
Found in India and Sri Lanka mostly in hilly regions such as the Yelagiris, Nilgiris, Sivagiris, Shevaroy Hills, Nilambur, Madurai, Cuddapah, Salem, Belgaum, Godavari districts. Chaibassa, Bilaspur, Rewa, Allahabad, Hazara, Meerut, Subathu (Simla).Taxonomic history
When Carl Linnaeus first described the species Lacerta punctata in the 1758 10th edition10th edition of Systema Naturae
The 10th edition of Systema Naturae was a book written by Carl Linnaeus and published in two volumes in 1758 and 1759, which marks the starting point of zoological nomenclature...
of Systema Naturae
Systema Naturae
The book was one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carolus Linnaeus. The first edition was published in 1735...
, he based his description on material from two different species. In 2003, a lectotype
Lectotype
In botanical nomenclature and zoological nomenclature, a lectotype is a kind of name-bearing type. When a species was originally described on the basis of a name-bearing type consisting of multiple specimens, one of those may be designated as the lectotype...
was chosen to stabilise the nomenclature, separating the Asian species now called Lygosoma punctatum from the Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n species which had previously been known by that name, but which must now be referred to as Mabuya homalocephala.
External links
- http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Riopa_punctata.jpg
- http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Riopa_punctata2.jpg