Sunday, March 31, 2019

[Herpetology • 2019] Trachylepis raymondlaurenti • A New Long-tailed Skink (Scincidae: Trachylepis) from Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo


Trachylepis raymondlaurenti 
Marques, Ceríaco, Bandeira, Pauwels & Bauer, 2019

Laurent’s Long Tailed Skink || DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4568.1.3
Photo by Luis M. P. Ceríaco.

Abstract
Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are relatively unknown in terms of their herpetological diversity. Based on specimens collected in the Congolese region of the Katanga and the northeast of Angola during the first decades of the twentieth century, de Witte and Laurent independently suggested, based on morphological and coloration differences, that populations of T. megalura of these regions could belong a new “race”. We compared specimens of T. megalura (including the type specimens of T. megalura and T. massaiana) with Angolan and Katangan museum specimens as well as newly collected specimens from Angola. Coloration pattern and morphological characters, in combination with substantial divergence in the 16S mitochondrial gene, confirm the distinctiveness of the west Central African form, and it is here described as a new species. Data regarding its natural history, ecology and global distribution are presented.

 Keywords: Reptilia, Taxonomy, Trachylepis raymondlaurenti sp. nov., Cangandala National Park, Upemba National Park, Central Africa, type-specimens, nomenclature


FIGURE 3. Live specimen of Trachylepis megalura (EBG 1408) from Lwiro, South Kivu Province, DRC. Note the prominent white flank stripe.
Photo by Eli B. Greenbaum.

Holotype of Trachylepis raymondlaurenti sp. nov. (CAS 258401) from Cangandala National Park, Angola in life.
Photo by Luis M. P. Ceríaco.

Holotype of Trachylepis raymondlaurenti sp. nov. (CAS 258401) from Cangandala National Park, Angola.

Trachylepis raymondlaurenti 
Marques, Ceríaco, Bandeira, Pauwels & Bauer sp. nov. 

 Mabuya megalura (de Witte 1953: 107) 
Mabuya megalura subsp. (Laurent 1964: 74) 
Trachylepis megalura (Broadley & Cotterill 2004: 42 [partim]) 
Trachylepis cf. megalura (Ceríaco et al. 2016b: 71; 2018b: 423; Marques et al. 2018: 264)

Etymology. The species is named after Raymond F. Laurent (1917–2005), Belgian herpetologist who specialized in African amphibians and reptiles and contributed significantly to current knowledge of the Angolan and Congolese herpetofaunas. 
We propose the English name "Laurent’s Long Tailed Skink", the Portuguese name "Lagartixa de Cauda Longa de Laurent", and the French name "Scinque à longue queue de Laurent".


 Mariana P. Marques, Luis M. P. Ceríaco, Suzana Bandeira, Olivier S. G. Pauwels and Aaron M. Bauer. 2019. Description of A New Long-tailed Skink (Scincidae: Trachylepis) from Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zootaxa. 4568(1); 51–68. DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4568.1.3

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