Trachylepis makolowodei CHIRIO, INEICH, SCHMITZ & LEBRETON, 2008
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Trachylepis makolowodei
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Mabuyinae (Mabuyini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Makolowodé’s Trachylepis |
| Synonym | Trachylepis makolowodei CHIRIO, INEICH, SCHMITZ & LEBRETON 2008 Trachylepis makolowodei — ALLEN et al. 2017 |
| Distribution | Central African Republic, Cameroon Type locality: border of a forest river, near the village of Bélemboké, 45 km south of Nola in Central African Republic [about 3°17’ N, 16°15’ E] |
| Reproduction | oviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) |
| Types | Holotype: MNHN-RA 1995.5612; see also Chirio & Ineich 2005), 31 May 1994, by Laurent Chirio; paratypes: MNHN-RA 1995.5610-5611, MNHN-RA 1995.5613-5614, MNHN-RA 1997.3464-3467, MNHN-RA 1997.3072-3073, MNHN-RA 1997.3075-3083 |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Moveable eyelids with a white border, the lower with a translucent palpebral disk; rectangular enlarged subocular, in direct contact with the lip and not reduced basally by the intrusion of adjacent supralabials; snout wide and massive; supra- and infralabials dark in formalin fixed specimens and mental plate often lighter; finger and toe lamellae not keeled and not spinose; absence of distinct longitudi- nal or transversal dorsal bands; back uniformly blackish and belly grey blue on formalin pre- served specimens and whitish on alcohol preserved specimens. This species can be distin- guished from all other members of the genus in western and central Africa (see Hoogmoed 194) by its elevated number of dorsal scale keels ( to 9), its size (up to 121 mm SVL), the relative length of its tail (approximately double the SVL), its high number of supraciliaries (6 to 8) and its coloration. It can be distinguished from T. polytropis, another sympatric species with an elevated number of dorsal keels, by the following combination of characters: large SVL, white marks on supralabials, black marks on supra- and infralabials which are weakly developed and most often absent, tail strongly flattened transversally, body only weakly flat- tened dorso-ventrally which gives the animal a massive habitus, presence of three well devel- oped ear lobules in front of tympanum, and finally the frequent occurrence of a large plate clearly individualised among the three largest plates located on the soles of the hand and foot. Its general scalation pattern is most similar to that encountered in T. boulengeri, but it can be distinguished from the later by its larger size (maximum known SVL121 mm vs. 90 mm of T. boulengeri), its head is proportionately larg- er, its higher number of supraciliaries and its coloration. |
| Comment | Similar species: This species has been confused with T. polytropis in the past. It is also similar to T. boulengeri. Distribution: May also occur in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Not in Gabon fide Pauwels et al. 2018. |
| Etymology | The specific epithet makolowodei is a masculine patronym used in homage to Paul Makolowodé, originating from the village of Zimba, Central African Republic, who has worked as a field herpetologist in CAR and Cameroon (CAMHERP project). He has also collected the types of this species. |
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