Ninurta coeruleopunctatus (HEWITT & METHUEN, 1913)

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Higher Taxa	Cordylidae (Cordylinae), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Blue-spotted (Girdled) Lizard
Synonym	Zonurus coeruleopunctatus HEWITT & METHUEN 1913 Zonurus coeruleo-punctatus — ESSEX 1925 Cordylus coeruleo-punctatus — FITZSIMONS 1943 Cordylus coeruleopunctatus — FROST et al. 2001 Ninurta coeruleopunctatus — STANLEY et al. 2011 Ninurta coeruleopunctatus — BATES et al. 2014: 199 Ninurtia coeruleopunctatus — REISSIG 2014: 21 (in error) Cordylus caeruleopunctatus — HERPMAPPER 2020 (in error)
Distribution	Republic of South Africa (S Cape from Mossel Bay to Witelsbos) Type locality: Buffel’s Nek, between Knysna and Avontuur, South Africa.
Reproduction	Ovoviviparous/viviparous, giving birth to 3–4 young.
Types	Holotype: DNMNH (= TM) (Transvaal Museum)
Diagnosis
Comment	Type species: Zonurus coeruleopunctatus HEWITT & METHUEN 1913 is the type species of the genus Ninurta STANLEY et al. 2011.
Etymology	Ninurta (masculine) was, in Summerian and Akkadian mythology, among his other attributes, the god of rain and of the south wind. The name references the sole species’ occurrence along the cool, moist south coast of South Africa. The species is named after its blue spots (Latin “coeruleus” = blue, “pucatatus” = spotted).
References	Bates, M.F.; Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M.; Burger, M., Marais, J.; Alexander, G.J. & de Villliers, M.S. (eds.) 2014. Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, 512 pp. Blerk, Dan van; Jens Reissig, Julia L. Riley, John Measey, James Baxter-Gilbert 2021. Observations of infanticide and cannibalism from four species of cordylid lizard (Squamata: Cordylidae) in captivity and the wild. Herpetology Notes 14: 725-729 - get paper here Branch, William R. 1993. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 144 S. Essex, R. 1925. Descriptions of two new species of the genus Acontias and notes on some other lizards found in the Cape Province. Rec. Albany Mus. 3: 332-342. Frost, D.; Janies, D.; Le Fras N. Mouton, P. & Titus, T. 2003. A molecular perspective on the phylogeny of the Girdled Lizards (Cordylidae, Squamata). American Museum Novitates (3310): 1-10 - get paper here Hewitt,J. & Methuen,P.A. 1913. Descriptions of some new Batrachia and Lacertilia from South Africa. Trans. Roy. Soc. South Africa (Cape Town) 3: 107-111 - get paper here MOUTON, P. LE FRAS N.; DAHNÉ A. JANSE VAN RENSBURG and JOHANNES H. VAN WYK 2010. Epidermal glands in cordylid lizards, with special reference to generation glands. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158: 312–324. - get paper here Reissig, J. 2014. Girdled Lizards and Their Relatives. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, ISBN-10: 3899734378 Schönecker, P. 2014. Südafrika. Auf Reptiliensuche entlang der Garden Route. Reptilia (Münster) 19 (105): 80-93 Stanley, Edward L.; Aaron M. Bauer; Todd R. Jackman, William R. Branch, P. Le Fras N. Mouton 2011. Between a rock and a hard polytomy: rapid radiation in the rupicolous girdled lizard (Squamata: Cordylidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 58(1): 53-70. - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/reptiles/squamata/cordylidae/Cordylus… https://endemia.nc/en/faune/fiche1090 http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1670/07-204.1 Google images

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