Riopa guentheri (PETERS, 1879)
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Riopa guentheri
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Lygosominae (Lygosomini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Günther’s Supple Skink, Günther's Writhing Skink G: Günthers Schlankskink |
| Synonym | Eumeces punctatus GÜNTHER 1864 Eumeces Güntheri PETERS 1879: 36 (nom. subst. pro Eumeces punctatus) Lygosoma guentheri — BOULENGER 1887: 311 Riopa guentheri — SMITH 1935: 319 Lygosoma guentheri — DAS 1996: 46 Lygosoma guentheri — VYAS & PRAJAPATI 2010 Riopa guentheri — FREITAS et al. 2019 |
| Distribution | India (Bombay Presidency, Matheran, Sholapur, Kurduwadi, Belgaum, N. Kanara; W Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, S Gujarat, Karnataka, Telangana) Type locality: Ostindien |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Syntypes: BMNH no number, India, presented W.E. Elliott; 49.8.23.1, India, R. Everett; 51.12.17.1, India, purchased Mr Stevens; 59.6.20.1, Dekan, North Hyderabad, presented Dr Hamilton; ZMB 8073 (2 specimens). Bauer et al. (1995) treated this as a replacement name for Eumeces punctatus Günther, 1864, hence assuming that the type series consisted of the types of Günther's name (and that the ZMB specimens therefore were not syntypes, as they had not been seen by Günther. However, Günther was not describing a new species but merely referring specimens (and previous literature) to Gray's Riopa punctata, and Gray in turn referring specimens to Linnaeus's Lacerta punctata, with Peters arguing that the account under this name by Günther and Gray was not conspecific with Linnaeus's taxon. Hence Peters must be considered to have described a new species by bibliographic citation, and referred to it not only the ZMB specimens he had examined (and which were the basis for his decision), but also any BMNH specimens that were used by Günther and Gray for their accounts, together with any specimens that were used in literature cited by Günther (i.e., specimens used by Cantor, Blyth and Jerdon), but excluding those specimens referred to Lacerta punctata by Linneaus (1758) and Wiegmann (1835), which, although referred to by Günther were explicitly excluded from Eumeces guentheri by Peters. The BMNH specimens listed above are those that were present in the BMNH prior to Günther's monograph. ZMB 8073 (2 specimens) were incorrectly listed as types in the ZMB catalogue but are not types (fide F. Tillack, pers. comm., 3 Dec 2018). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: 23-27 scales around the midbody, 87-96 scales on the paravertebral row, and distance between axilla to groin was 2.9 - 3.5 times longer than the distance from tip of snout to forelimb. Hemipenal morphology: The hemipenis is simple and is differentiated into two distinct parts, the basal stalk or pedicle and a club shaped head or capitulum. The pedicle is straight tubular structure and the capitulum divided into two parts, the proximal part with fleshy protrusion and the caliculated distal region. The total length of the hemipenis is 3. 7mm and it is 1.9mm wide at the base of capitulum. The sulcus is simple but the canal is covered with a transparent layer. The stalk is slightly narrower at the proximal part (width, 0. 7mm) than the distal end (width, 0.8 mm) and devoid of any micro-ornamentation. T he sulcus spermaticus runs along the stalk and at the base of the capitulum it is covered with fleshy labia on both sides and then opens to a cup shaped groove or scallop. The right labium is like a thin muscle layer which in natural state covers the sulcus canal and the left labia. The apex is differentiated with callices and devoid of any calcified structures. At the sulcal side, the fleshy protrusion is partially divided at the sulcus opening and at the asulcal side the fleshy protrusion forms a band which is wider at the middle. The fleshy protrusion on both sulcal and asulcal sides are without any micro-ornamentation or calices. Scattered calices are found on the capitulum at sulcal and asulcal sides (Bhilala, et al., 2021). |
| Comment | |
| Etymology | Named after Albert Günther (1830-1914), German-born zoologist at the British Museum. |
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