Paracontias hafa ANDREONE & GREER, 2002

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Higher Taxa	Scincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies
Common Names
Synonym	Paracontias hafa ANDREONE & GREER 2002 Paracontias hafa — SCHMITZ et al. 2005
Distribution	NE Madagascar Type locality: collected at Anjanaharibe-Sud Massif, Analabe Valley, Campsite W1, Befandriana Fivondronana, Mahajanga Faritany (Majunga Province), 14°46'S, 49°27'E, 1000-1100m.
Reproduction
Types	Holotype: MRSN R1825
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: Differs from all other species of Paracontias (as conceived by Brygoo, 1980b) in the following combination of characters: frontal hourglass-shaped, i.e. first supraocular constricts frontal (vs bell-shaped); supraoculars four (vs three); nasal and nostril well within extensive rostral (vs between rostral and first supralabial), and supralabials five (vs four) (Andreone et al. 2002).
Comment	Limb morphology: Limbless; no ear openings visible.
Etymology	Named after the Malagasy word `hafa' meaning `strange', `different', or `other' and is used here as a noun in apposition, stressing that this species is strange and different from the other currently known Paracontias. The phonetic rendition is: “ha”rfar (accented syllables in quotes).
References	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 Köhler, J.; Vieites, D.R.; Glaw, F.; Kaffenberger, N. & Vences, M. 2009. A further new species of limbless skink, genus Paracontias, from eastern Madagascar. African Journal of Herpetology 58 (2): 98-105 - get paper here Miralles, Aurélien; Köhler, Jörn; Vieites, David R. 2011. Hypotheses on rostral shield evolution in fossorial lizards derived from the phylogenetic position of a new species of Paracontias (Squamata, Scincidae). Organisms Diversity & Evolution 11: 135-15 - 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
External links	IUCN Red List Google images

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