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Spondylurus turksae HEDGES & CONN, 2012

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Mabuyinae (Mabuyini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Turks Islands Skink 
SynonymSpondylurus turksae HEDGES & CONN 2012: 211
Mabuya sloanii — BARBOUR, 1916: 219 (part)
Mabuya mabouya sloanii — DUNN, 1936: 544 (part)
Mabuya mabouya — BARBOUR, 1937: 147 (part)
Mabuya mabouya sloanei — SCHWARTZ & THOMAS, 1975: 141 (part)
Mabuya mabouya sloanei — MACLEAN et al., 1977: 21 (part)
Mabuya mabouya sloanei — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON, 1988: 151 (part)
Mabuya mabouya sloanei — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON, 1991: 457 (part)
Mabuya bistriata — POWELL et al., 1996: 82 (part)
Mabuya sloanii — MIRALLES, 2005: 49 (part)
Mabuya sloanii — HENDERSON & POWELL, 2009: 293 (part) 
DistributionGrand Turk Islands, Cotton Cay, Gibbs Cay

Type locality: North Wells (1.6 km N. Cockburn Town), Grand Turk Island, Turks and Caicos.  
Reproductionviviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) 
TypesHolotype: KU 242171, an adult female, collected at North Wells (1.6 km N. Cockburn Town), Grand Turk Island, Turks and Caicos, 28 January 1961, by Albert Schwartz. Original field number AS 10906. Paratypes (n = 6). Gibbs Cay. KU 242170, Albert Schwartz, 26 March 1972. Grand Turk Island. ANSP 3835 (no additional collection information available); KU 242172–73, Albert Schwartz, North Wells (1.6 km N. Cockburn Town), 28–30 January 1961; MCZ R-11946–47, L. A. Mowbray, no specific locality, June 1916. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Spondylurus turksae sp. nov. is characterized by (1) maximum SVL in males, 79.3 mm; (2) maximum SVL in females, 79.1 mm; (3) snout width, 2.42–3.69% SVL; (4) head length, 15.2–16.5% SVL; (5) head width, 12.0–13.0% SVL; (6) ear length, 1.30–1.81% SVL; (7) toe-IV length, 7.05–8.90% SVL; (8) prefrontals, two; (9) supraoculars, four; (10) supraciliaries, four (86%), five (14%); (11) frontoparietals, two; (12) supralabial below the eye, five (67%), six (33%); (13) nuchal rows, two (86%), three (14%); (14) dorsals, 59–63; (15) ventrals, 59–63; (16) dorsals + ventrals, 119–126; (17) midbody scale rows, 30; (18) finger-IV lamellae, 12– 15; (19) toe-IV lamellae, 15–17; (20) finger-IV + toe-IV lamellae, 28–30; (21) supranasal contact, N; (22) prefrontal contact, N; (23) supraocular-1/frontal contact, Y (14%), N (86%); (24) parietal contact, Y; (25) pale middorsal stripe, Y; (26) dark dorsolateral stripe, Y; (27) dark lateral stripe, Y; (28) pale lateral stripe, N (or weak); and (29) palms and soles, pale (Tables 3–5).
Within the Genus Spondylurus, S. turksae sp. nov. differs from S. anegadae sp. nov., S. culebrae sp. nov., S. haitiae sp. nov., S. monae sp. nov., S. monitae sp. nov., S. semitaeniatus, and S. sloanii by having a wider middorsal stripe (3.51–4.68% SVL versus 0.953–3.32% SVL in those other species) and a lower dark dorsolateral stripe width/middorsal stripe width ratio (0.187–0.622 versus 0.64–3.79 in those other species; Fig. 79). It differs from S. macleani, S. magnacruzae sp. nov., S. martinae sp. nov., S. monitae sp. nov., S. powelli sp. nov., S. sloanii, and S. spilonotus in having fewer midbody scale rows (30 versus 32–34). It differs from S. fulgidus, S. haitiae sp. nov., and S. nitidus in having a shorter toe (toe-IV length 7.05–8.90% SVL versus 9.01–12.9% SVL). It differs from S. haitiae sp. nov., S. martinae sp. nov., and S. monitae sp. nov. in having fewer ventral scales (59–63 versus 64–72). It differs from S. anegadae sp. nov. by lacking supranasal contact (versus supranasals in contact in S. anegadae sp. nov.). It differs from S. caicosae sp. nov. in being larger (three of seven S. turksae sp. nov. > 77.7 mm SVL versus all 99 specimens of S. caicosae sp. nov. < 77.6 mm SVL) and in having a higher ear (ear height 1.57–1.87% SVL versus 0.73–1.52% SVL), a wider pale dorsolateral stripe (1.98–2.33% SVL versus 1.02–1.73% SVL), and a dark lateral stripe that is irregular and extends to hindlimbs (versus straight-edged and extends only half-way to hindlimbs). It differs from S. fulgidus in having more dorsal scales (59–63 versus 52–58). It differs from S. haitiae sp. nov. in having a longer ear (ear length 1.30–1.81% SVL versus 1.19% SVL) and fewer dorsals + ventrals (119–126 versus 129–131). It differs from S. lineolatus in having a wider snout (snout width 2.42–3.69% SVL versus 1.97–2.34% SVL), a longer head (head length 15.2–16.5% SVL versus 12.9–14.4% SVL), a wider head (head width 12.0–13.0% SVL versus 9.58–11.6% SVL), more finger-IV lamellae (12–15 versus 8–11), more finger-IV + toe-IV lamellae (28–30 versus 21–26) and fewer dark stripes (four versus 10). It differs from S. nitidus in having a shorter head (head length 15.2–16.5% SVL versus 16.6–20.7% SVL) [HEDGES & CONN 2012]. 
Comment 
EtymologyThe species name (turksae) is a feminine genitive singular noun referring to the distribution of the species in the Turks Islands. 
References
  • Barbour, T. 1916. Additional notes on West Indian reptiles and amphibians. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 29: 215-220. - get paper here
  • Barbour,T. and B. Shreve 1937. Novitates Cubanae. Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harvard 80: 377-387 - get paper here
  • Dunn, Emmett Reid 1935. Notes on American Mabuyas. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 87: 533-560 - get paper here
  • Hedges, S.B. & Conn, C.E. 2012. A new skink fauna from Caribbean islands (Squamata, Mabuyidae, Mabuyinae). Zootaxa 3288: 1–244 - get paper here
  • Henderson, Robert W. & Robert Powell 2009. NATURAL HISTORY OF WEST INDIAN REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS. University Press of Florida, 576 pp.
  • Maclean, William P. 1977. Island lists of West Indian amphibians and reptiles. Smithsonian Herp. Inf. Serv. (40): 1-47 - get paper here
  • Miralles, A. 2005. The identity of Lacertus mabouya LACÉPÈDE 1788, with description of a neotype: an approach toward the taxonomy of new world Mabuya. Herpetologica 61 (1): 46-53 - get paper here
  • Powell, R., R. W. Henderson, K. Adler, And H. A. Dundee. 1996. An annotated checklist of West Indian amphibians and reptiles. In R. Powell and R. W. Henderson (eds.), Contributions to West Indian Herpetology: A Tribute to Albert Schwartz, p.51-93. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca (New York). Contributions to Herpetology, volume 12. [book review in Salamandra 36 (2): 136]
  • Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1988. West Indian Amphibian and Reptiles: A Checklist. Milwaukee Publ. Mus. Contr. Biol. Geol. No. 74: 264 pp. - get paper here
  • Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 720 pp.
  • Zimin, A., Zimin, S. V., Shine, R., Avila, L., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., Barki, G., de Oliveira Caetano, G. H., Castro Herrera, F., Chapple, D. G., Chirio, L., Colli, G. R., Doan, T. M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L. L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton 2022. A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–16 - get paper here
 
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