You are here » home › advanced search › Madascincus melanopleura

Madascincus melanopleura (GÜNTHER, 1877)

iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Madascincus melanopleura?

Add your own observation of
Madascincus melanopleura »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaScincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Common Madagascar Skink 
SynonymGongylus melanopleura GÜNTHER 1877: 315
Sepsina vulsini BARBOUR 1918: 485
Scelotes vulsini — ANGEL 1942: 139
Scelotes melanopleura — ANGEL 1942: 139
Amphiglossus vulsinii — FITZSIMONS 1943
Amphiglossus melanopleura — GLAW & VENCES 1994: 318
Amphiglossus melanopleura — ANDREONE & GREER 2002
Amphiglossus (Madascincus) melanopleura — SCHMITZ et al. 2005
Madascincus melanopleura —WHITING et al. 2004 
DistributionMadagascar

Type locality: “Anzahamaru” (close to Mahanoro in the central eastern lowlands), possibly = Anjahamaro and probably close to Mahanoro [ca. 19.8958° S, 48.8063° E] fide Glaw et al. 2025

vulsini: Madagascar; Type locality: “eastern forest between Tamatave and Tananarive”  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.8.21.34 (formerly 77.2.8.?; last digit unclear)
Holotype: MCZ 11869 [vulsini] 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 1493 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentAccording to Miralles and Vences (2013) Madascincus melanopleura should be restricted to their melanopleura-C clade (including M. vulsini as a junior synonym), and M. ankodabensis should be applied to the melanopleura-S clade.

Type species: Gongylus melanopleura GÜNTHER 1877: 315 is the type species of the genus Madascincus BRYGOO 1981.

Phylogenetics of trait evolution in the genus Madascincus: Belluardo et al. 2022.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
References
  • Andreone F., Randrianirina J., Jenkins P.D. & Aprea G. 2000. Species diversity of Amphibia, Reptilia and Lipotyphla (Mammalia) at Ambolokopatrika, a rainforest between the Anjanaharibe-Sud and Marojejy massifs, NE Madagascar. Biodiversity and Conservation 9: 1587–1622 - get paper here
  • Andreone, F. & Greer, A.E. 2002. Malagasy scincid lizards: descriptions of nine new species, with notes on the morphology, reproduction and taxonomy of some previously described species (Reptilia, Squamata: Scincidae). Journal of Zoology 258, 139-181 - get paper here
  • Angel, F. 1942. Les Lézards de Madagascar. Mem. Acad. Malagache, Tananarive XXXVI: 193 pp.
  • Barbour, Thomas 1918. Vertebrata from Madagascar. 2. Amphibia and Reptilia. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 61 (14): 479-489. - get paper here
  • Belluardo, F., Muñoz-Pajares, A. J., Miralles, A., Silvestro, D., Cocca, W., Ratsoavina, F. M., ... & Crottini, A. 2022. Slow and steady wins the race: Diversification rate is independent from body size and lifestyle in Malagasy skinks (Squamata: Scincidae: Scincinae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 178: 107635 [print in 2023] - get paper here
  • Brygoo E R 1984. Systematique des lezards scincides de la region malgache. 13. Les Amphiglossus du sous-genre Madascincus. Bulletin du Museum National D'histoire Naturelle SECTION A ZOOLOGIE BIOLOGIE ET ECOLOGIE ANIMALES 6 (2): 527-536
  • D’Cruze, N.; Köhler, J.; Franzen, M & Glaw, F. 2008. A conservation assessment of the amphibians and reptiles of the Forêt d’Ambre Special Reserve, north Madagascar. MADAGASCAR CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT 3 (1): 44-54 - get paper here
  • Glaw ,F. & Vences, M. 1994. A Fieldguide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar. Vences & Glaw Verlag, Köln (ISBN 3-929449-01-3)
  • Glaw, F., Agne, S., Prötzel, D., Gehring, P. S., Köhler, J., Preick, M., ... & Vences, M. 2025. Towards a revision of the Malagasy chameleons of the Calumma gallus complex: Redefinition of Calumma nasutum based on a museomics approach and descriptions of two new species. SALAMANDRA, 61, 442-466 - get paper here
  • Günther, A. 1877. Descriptions of some new Species of Reptiles from Madagascar. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (4) 19: 313-317. - get paper here
  • Miralles, Aurélien & Miguel Vences 2013. New Metrics for Comparison of Taxonomies Reveal Striking Discrepancies among Species Delimitation Methods in Madascincus Lizards. PLoS One 8 (7): e68242. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0068242 - get paper here
  • Miralles, Aurélien; Jörn Köhler, Frank Glaw, Miguel Vences 2016. Species delimitation methods put into taxonomic practice: two new Madascincus species formerly allocated to historical species names (Squamata, Scincidae). Zoosyst. Evol. 92 (2): 257–275; DOI 10.3897/zse.92.9945 - get paper here
  • Schmitz, A.; M.C. Brandley; P. Mausfeld; M. Vences; F. Glaw; R.A. Nussbaum and T.W. Reeder 2005. Opening the black box: phylogenetics and morphological evolution of the Malagasy fossorial lizards of the subfamily “Scincinae”. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 34: 118–133 (published online 2004) - get paper here
  • Uetz, P.H.; Patel, M.; Gbadamosi, Z.; Nguyen, A.; Shoope, S. 2024. A Reference Database of Reptile Images. Taxonomy 4: 723–732 - get paper here
  • Whiting, A.S.; Jack W. Sites, Jr. & Aaron M. Bauer 2004. Molecular phylogenetics of Malagasy skinks (Squamata: Scincidae). African Journal of Herpetology 53(2): 135-146 - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:


Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator