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Trachylepis punctatissima (SMITH, 1849)

IUCN Red List - Trachylepis punctatissima - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaScincidae, Mabuyinae (Mabuyini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Speckled Rock Skink, Montane Speckled Skink 
SynonymEuprepes puntatissimus SMITH 1849: plate 31
Euprepes sunderalli [sic] SMITH 1849
Euprepes punctatissimus — PETERS 1854
Euprepes (Euprepis) Grützneri PETERS 1869: 433
Mabuia gruetzneri — BOULENGER 1887: 171
Mabuia gruetzneri — ROUX 1907: 431
Mabuia gruetzneri — ROUX 1910: 431
Mabuia gruetzneri — HEWITT 1910: 89
Mabuya striata FITZSIMONS 1943: 229 (part; not PETERS)
Mabuya striata punctatissima — BROADLEY 1977: 64
Mabuya striata punctatissima — AUERBACH 1987: 107
Mabuya striata punctatissimus — BAUER et al. 1995: 61
Mabuya punctatissima — BROADLEY 2000
Euprepis punctatissima — MAUSFELD et al. 2003
Mabuya punctatissima — BAUER et al 2003: 273
Trachylepis punctatissima — BAUER 2003 
DistributionSouth Africa (Montane and highveld regions of the NE provinces), SE Botswana, W Swaziland and Lesotho, relict populations on the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia

Type locality: northeastern districts of Cape Colony.  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesSyntypes: BMNH 1946.8.15.18-25 (formerly 65.5.4.77), South Africa, presented Sir A. Smith; Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, presented Sir A. Smith. Paratype: MNHN 5067 (2805) 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (4426 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy partly after BROADLEY 2000. BOULENGER (1887 : 204) placed this species in the synonymy of Mabuya striata which apparently has been accepted by FITZSIMONS 1970: 229.

Distribution: for a map see Stephens et al. 2022: Fig. 1 and Fig. 4. 
EtymologyNamed after the punctate pattern that many specimens show in this species. 
References
  • Auerbach, R.D. 1987. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana. Mokwepa Consultants, Botswana, 295 pp.
  • 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.
  • Bauer, A.M.; Günther,R. & Klipfel,M. 1995. The herpetological contributions of Wilhelm C.H. Peters (1815-1883). SSAR Facsimile Reprints in Herpetology, 714 pp.
  • Bauer, Aaron M.; Branch, William R. & Haacke, Wulf D. 1993. The herpetofauna of the Kamanjab area and adjacent Damaraland, Namibia. Madoqua (Windhoek) 18 (2): 117-145. - get paper here
  • Broadley, D. G. 1977. A review of the Mabuya striata complex in South-East Africa (Sauria: Scincidae). Occ. Pap. Nat. Mus. and Mon. Rhodesia 6B (2): 45-79
  • Broadley, D. G. & HOWELL, K. M. 1991. A check list of the reptiles of Tanzania, with synoptic keys. Syntarsus 1: 1—70
  • Broadley, D.G. 1991. The Herpetofauna of Northern Mwinilunga Distr., Northw. Zambia. Arnoldia Zimbabwe 9 (37): 519-538
  • Broadley, D.G. 1998. The reptilian fauna of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa). In: Schmidt, K.P. and Noble, G.K., Contributions to the Herpetology of the Belgian Congo... [reprint of the 1919 and 1923 papers]. SSAR Facsimile reprints in Herpetology, 780 pp.
  • Broadley, D.G. 2000. A review of the genus Mabuya in southeastern Africa (Sauria: Scincidae). African Journal of Herpetology, 49 (2): 87-110 - get paper here
  • Brygoo E. R., 1981. Systematique des Lezards Scincides de la region malgache VIII. Les Mabuya des iles de l'océan Indien occidental: Comores, Europa, Séchelles. Bull. Mus. natn. Hist. Nat. 3: 911–930
  • Brygoo, E.R. 1985. Les types des scincidés (Reptiles, Sauriens) du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, catalogue critique. Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. (4e sér.) 7 (sect. A 3), suppl.: 1-126
  • Chabanaud, P. 1917. Descriptions de trois espéces nouvelles de Reptilies de l'Afrique. Bull. Mus. nat. Hist. nat. Paris 23: 219-225 - get paper here
  • Conradie, Werner; Brain Reeves, Sandile Mdoko, Lwandiso Pamla, Oyama Gxabhu 2020. Herpetological survey of the Ongeluksnek (Malekgalonyane) Nature Reserve on the foothills of the Drakensberg, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Herpetology Notes 13: 717-730 - get paper here
  • Conradie, Werner; Brian Reeves , Neil Brown, & Jan A. Venter 2016. Herpetofauna of the Oviston, Commando Drift and Tsolwana nature reserves in the arid interior of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Indago 32: 81-98 - get paper here
  • Fischer, Johann Gustav 1888. Über eine Kollektion Reptilien von Angra Pequenna. Jahrb. Hamburg. Wiss. Anst. 5: 11-17. - get paper here
  • FitzSimons, V.F. 1943. The lizards of South Africa. Transvaal Museum Memoir No.1 (Pretoria), 528 pp.
  • Fitzsimons, V.F.M.; Brain, C.K. 1958. A Short account of the Reptiles of the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park. Koedoe, 1(1): 99-104 - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1864. Notes on some new lizards from south—eastern Africa, with the descriptions of several new species. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1864: 58—62. - get paper here
  • Greer, A.E., Arnold, C. & Arnold, E.N. 2000. The systematic significance of the number of presacral vertebrae in the scincid lizard genus Mabuya. Amphibia-Reptilia 21 (1): 121-126 - get paper here
  • Günther, A. 1895. Notice of Reptiles and Batrachians collected in the eastern half of tropical Africa. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (6) 15: 523-529. - get paper here
  • Haagner,G.V.; Branch,W.R. & Haagner,A.J.F. 2000. Notes on a collection of reptiles from Zambia and adjacent areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Annals of the Eastern Cape Museum 1: 1 – 25
  • Herrmann, H.-W.; W.R. Branch 2013. Fifty years of herpetological research in the Namib Desert and Namibia with an updated and annotated species checklist. Journal of Arid Environments 93: 94–115 - get paper here
  • Hewitt, J. 1910. A Key to the South African Species of Geckonidae, Scincidae, Gerrhosauridae, and Lacertidae, together with some Notes on the Specific Characters and a Brief Summary of the Known Facts of their Distribution. Annals Transvaal Mus. 2 (3): 77-115. - get paper here
  • Honda, Masanao; Ota, Hidetoshi; Kobayashi, Mari; Nabhitabhata,Jarujin; Yong, Soi-Sen & Hikida,Tsutomu 1999. Evolution of Asian and African Lygosomine Skinks of the Mabuya group (Reptilia: Scincidae): a molecular perspective. Zoological Science 16: 979-984 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1953. Zoological Results of a fifth expedition to East Africa. III. Reptiles from Nyasaland and Tete. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 110 (3): 142-322. - get paper here
  • Mausfeld,P.; Vences, M. Schmitz, A. & Veith, M. 2000. First data on the molecular phylogeography of scincid lizards of the genus Mabuya. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 17 (1): 11-14 - get paper here
  • Norval, G. & Norval, A.W. 2007. Eine Beschreibung der opportunistischen Futtersuche beim Gepunkteten Skink, Trachylepis punctatissima (SMITH, 1849) in einem städtischen Lebensraum. Sauria 29 (2): 43-46 - get paper here
  • Peters, W.C.H. 1844. Über einige neue Fische und Amphibien aus Angola und Mozambique. Ber. Bekanntmach. Geeignet. Verhandl. Königl.-Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1844: 32-37
  • Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig 1870. Förtekning pa de af J. Wahlberg i Damaralandet insamlade Reptilierna. Oefversigt Kongl.Vet. Akad. Förhandl. 26 (7): 657-662
  • Peters,W.C.H. 1854. Diagnosen neuer Batrachier, welche zusammen mit der früher (24. Juli und 17. August) gegebenen Übersicht der Schlangen und Eidechsen mitgetheilt werden. Ber. Bekanntmach. Geeignet. Verhandl. Königl.-Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1854: 614-628
  • Peters,W.C.H. 1869. Über neue Gattungen und neue oder weniger bekannte Arten von Amphibien (Eremias, Dicrodon, Euprepes, Lygosoma, Typhlops, Eryx, Rhynchonyx, Elapomorphus, Achalinus, Coronella, Dromicus, Xenopholis, Anoplodipsas, Spilotes, Tropidonotus). Monatsber. k. preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1869: 432-447 - get paper here
  • Pianka, Eric R. 1971. Lizard species density in the Kalahari Desert. Ecology 52 (6): 1024-1029 - get paper here
  • Razzetti, E. & Msuya, C.A. 2002. Field guide to the amphibians and reptiles of Arusha National Park (Tanzania). Publ. Ed. Negri Istituto, Oikos, Varese, 84 pp.
  • Roux,J. 1907. Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Fauna von Süd-Afrika. Ergebnisse einer Reise von Prof. Max Weber im Jahre 1894. VII. Lacertilia (Eidechsen). Zool. Jahrb., Abt. Syst., Geogr. Biol. Tiere (Jena), 25: 403-444 - get paper here
  • Schillert, A.: 2009. Erfahrungen bei der Terrarienpflege des Gepunkteten Kapskinks Trachylepis punctatissima (Smith, 1849) (Squamata: Scincidae). Sauria 31 (2): 5-12 - get paper here
  • Smith, A. 1849. Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa. 3 (Reptiles). Smith, Elder, and Co., London [facsimile published by Winchester Press, Johannesburg, 1977] - get paper here
  • STEPHENS, KIRSTIN; GRAHAM J. ALEXANDER, BUYISILE G. MAKHUBO, NICOLAS S. TELFORD & KRYSTAL A. TOLLEY. 2022. Mistaken identity: challenges with specimen identification for morphologically conservative skinks (Trachylepis) leads to taxonomic error. African Journal of Herpetology 0(0): 1–18. - get paper here
  • Tolley KA, Telford NS, Makhubo BG, Power RJ, Alexander GJ 2023. Filling the gap: Noteworthy herpetological discoveries in North West Province, South Africa. Zoosystematics and Evolution 99(1): 101-116 - get paper here
  • Whiting, A.S.; Aaron M. Bauer and Jack W. Sites, Jr. 2003. Phylogenetic relationships and limb loss in sub-Saharan African scincine lizards (Squamata: Scincidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 29 (3): 582-598 - get paper here
 
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