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Acontias kgalagadi (LAMB, BISWAS & BAUER, 2010)

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Acontiinae (Acontidae), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Kalahari Burrowing Skink, Kgalagadi Legless Skink 
SynonymTyphlosaurus lineatus BOULENGER 1887: 432
Typhlosaurus lineatus — FITZSIMONS & BRAIN 1958
Typhlosaurus lineatus — HUEY et al. 1974
Typhlosaurus lineatus lineatus — AUERBACH 1987: 105
Acontias kgalagadi kgalagadi LAMB et al. 2010 (nom. nov.)
Acontias kgalagadi kgalagadi — BATES et al. 2014: 242
Acontias kgalagadi — ZHAO et al. 2023 
DistributionW Namibia, Botswana (Kalahari), CN Republic of South Africa (N Transvaal, N Cape), E Angola

Type locality: “"Cape of Good Hope"  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 69.2.4.1, collector unknown (Typhlosaurus lineatus) 
Diagnosis 
CommentHabitat: Burrowing, confined to the sandveld.

Nomenclature: A. kgalaagadi is a replacement name for this species due to transfer to Acontias, where lineatus is a junior homonym.

Limb morphology: Limbless.

Distribution: not in Zambia fide WAGNER et al. 2012.

Synonymy: When transferred to Acontias, Typhlosaurus lineatus Boulenger 1887— originally described and, until now, treated as Typhlosaurus lineatus (e.g., FitzSimons 1943; Branch 1998) and Acontophiops lineatus Sternfeld 1912—are junior secondary homonyms of A. lineatus Peters, 1879. As no junior synonyms exist for Acontias (formerly Typhlosaurus) lineatus (De Witte & Laurent 1943; FitzSimons 1943; Broadley 1968), Lamb et al. 2010 proposed Acontias kgalagadi nom. nov. as a replacement name. 
EtymologyNamed after its distribution in the Kalahari (”Kgalagadi”). Note that this is a new name (nomen novum) for A. lineatus. 
References
  • Auerbach, R.D. 1987. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana. Mokwepa Consultants, Botswana, 295 pp.
  • Bates, M. F. 1988. Geographical Distribution - Typhlosaurus lineatus lineatus. J. Herp. Assoc. Africa (34): 50-50 - 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.
  • Boulenger, G. A. 1887. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) III. Lacertidae, Gerrhosauridae, Scincidae, Anelytropsidae, Dibamidae, Chamaeleontidae. London: 575 pp. - get paper here
  • Brain, C.K. 1959. Notes on the Breeding of the South African Skink Typhlosaurus lineatus. Copeia 1959 (1): 70-71 - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G. 1968. A review of the African genus Typhlosaurus Wiegmann (Sauria: Scincidae). Arnoldia (Rhodesia) 3 (36): 1-20
  • Conradie W and Branch WR. 2016. The herpetofauna of the Cubango, Cuito, and lower Cuando river catchments of south-eastern Angola. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 10 (2) [Special Section]: 6–36 - get paper here
  • Conradie W, Keates C, Verburgt L, Baptista NL, Harvey J, Júlio T, Neef G. 2022. Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi River drainages. Part 2: Lizards (Sauria), chelonians, and crocodiles. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 16(2): 181–214 (e322) - get paper here
  • Conradie, Werner and Sven Bourquin. 2013. Geographic distribution: Acontias kgalagadi kgalagadi (Lamb, Biswas & Bauer, 2010) Striped Legless Skink. African Herp News (60): 29-30 - get paper here
  • 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
  • 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
  • Huey, R. B.; Pianka, E. R.; Egan, M. E.; Coons, L. W. 1974. Ecological shifts in sympatry: kalahari fossorial lizards (Typhlosaurus). Ecology 55 (2): 304-316 - get paper here
  • Lamb, T.; Biswas, S. & Bauer, A.M. 2010. A phylogenetic reassessment of African fossorial skinks in the subfamily Acontinae (Squamata: Scincidae): evidence for parallelism and polyphyly. Zootaxa 2657: 33–46 - get paper here
  • Marques, Mariana P.; Luis M. P. Ceríaco , David C. Blackburn , and Aaron M. Bauer 2018. Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola -- Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840–2017). Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (Ser. 4) 65: 1-501 (Supplement II)
  • Pianka, Eric R. 1971. Lizard species density in the Kalahari Desert. Ecology 52 (6): 1024-1029 - get paper here
  • Wagner, Philipp; Donald G. Broadley, and Aaron M. Bauer 2012. A New Acontine Skink from Zambia (Scincidae: Acontias Cuvier, 1817). Journal of Herpetology 46 (4): 494-502. - get paper here
  • Zhao, Z., Conradie, W., Pietersen, D.W., Jordaan, A., Nicolau, G., Edwards, S., Riekert, S., Heideman, N. 2023. Diversification of the African legless skinks in the subfamily Acontinae (Family Scincidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - get paper here
 
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