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Tetradactylus africanus GRAY, 1838

IUCN Red List - Tetradactylus africanus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaGerrhosauridae (Gerrhosaurinae), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Eastern Long-tailed Seps, African Whip Lizard
G: Große Geißel-Schildechse 
SynonymTetradactylus africanus africanus (GRAY 1838)
Caitia africana GRAY 1838
Tetradactylus africanus africanus — FITZSIMONS 1943: 296
Tetradactylus africanus africanus — BRANCH 1988
Tetradactylus africanus africanus — BOYCOTT 1992
Tetradactylus africanus — BATES et al. 2014: 231 
DistributionRepublic of South Africa (Eastern Cape), Swaziland  
Reproductionoviparous. This species appears to deposit its eggs only in ant nests (Anochetus faurei). 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1865.5.4.60, 60a, b (possibly type, but not listed as types) Cape, South Africa, Reverend A Smith, Donor. Type not in BMNH fide P. Campbell (pers. comm., 25 July 2014). 
Diagnosis 
CommentSubspecies: Tetradactylus africanus fitzsimonsi HEWITT 1915 has been elevated to full species status. 
EtymologyNamed after its African origin. 
References
  • Barts, M. 2008. Schildechsen: Gattungen und Arten im Überblick. Reptilia (Münster) 13 (69): 18-25 - get paper here
  • 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.
  • Bates, Michael F. 2014. Tetradactylus africanus (Gray, 1838) Eastern Long-tailed Seps. African Herp News (61): 34-35 - get paper here
  • Bates, Michael F. 2014. Tetradactylus africanus (Gray, 1838) Eastern Long-tailed Seps. African Herp News (61): 35-36 - get paper here
  • Berger-Dell'mour, H. A. E. 1983. Der Übergang von Echse zu Schleiche in der Gattung Tetradactylus, Merrem. Zool. Jb. Anat., 110 (1983): 1-152
  • Boycott, R.C. 1992. An Annotated Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Swaziland. The Conservation Trust of Swaziland - get paper here
  • Branch, W. R. 1990. The genus Tetradactylus (Sauria:Gerrhosaurinae) in the Cape Province, South Africa: New records and their taxonomic status. J. Herp. Assoc. Africa 37: 13-16 - get paper here
  • CONRADIE, WERNER; WILLIAM R. BRANCH, & GILLIAN WATSON 2019. Type specimens in the Port Elizabeth Museum, South Africa, including the historically important Albany Museum collection. Part 2: Reptiles (Squamata). Zootaxa 4576 (1): 001–045 - get paper here
  • FitzSimons, V.F. 1943. The lizards of South Africa. Transvaal Museum Memoir No.1 (Pretoria), 528 pp.
  • Gray, J. E. 1838. Catalogue of the slender-tongued saurians, with descriptions of many new genera and species. Part 3. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (1) 1: 388-394 - get paper here
  • Hewitt, J. 1915. Descriptions of two new South African lizards, Tetradactylus laevicauda and T. fitzsimonsi. Annals Transvaal Mus. 5 (2): 101-103 - get paper here
  • Mason, M.C.; Alexander, G.J. 1996. Oviposition site selection in Tetradactylus africanus africanus: A relationship with the ant Anochetus faurei. J. Herpet. Assoc. Africa 45 (1): 31-37 - get paper here
  • Venter, Jan A.; Werner Conradie 2015. A checklist of the reptiles and amphibians found in protected areas along the South African Wild Coast, with notes on conservation implications. Koedoe 57 (1): 1-25. doi: 10.4102/koedoe.v57i1.1247 - get paper here
 
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