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Sepsina angolensis BOCAGE, 1866

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Angola Skink 
SynonymSepsina angolensis BOCAGE 1866: 63
Sepsina grammica COPE 1868: 318
Sepsina grammica — ZOOLOGICAL RECORD 1873: 88
Sepsina angolensis — PETERS 1881: 147
Sepsina hessei BOETTGER 1887: 649
Sepsina hessei — HEWITT 1927: 402
Sepsina grammica — HEWITT 1927: 404
Scelotes grammica — BARBOUR & LOVERIDGE 1929: 337
Sepsina angolensis — WITTE 1933
Sepsina angolensis — DE WITTE & LAURENT 1942
Scelotes angolensis — HELLMICH 1957: 68
Scelotes angolensis — BROADLEY 1971
Sepsina angolensis — BROADLEY 1998
Sepsina angolensis — PIETERSEN et al. 2021 
DistributionN Namibia, Angola, W Zambia, W Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire).

Type locality: Duque de Braganca, Angola  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: lost, MB (also as MBL = Museu Bocage, Lison) (lost in fire that destroyed that collection in 1978; Duque de Braganca, Angola, collected F.A.P. Bayão.
Lectotype: SMF 16036, from “Kinshassa am Stanley Pool, unterer Kongo” [hessei]
Holotype: MCZ 5787 [grammica] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Skull diameters: Palatine bones widely separated along the midline; palatal rami of pterygoids expanded medially with a tendency toward emargination posteriorly; pterygoid teeth present. Postorbital bone present and relatively well developed; supratemporal arch strong and fenestra well developed; 12 to IS maxillary teeth. External characters: Interparietal small, not touching supraocular scales; a pair of supranasals meeting behind rostral; external ear opening present; digits 4-4 or fewer [from GREER 1970]. 
CommentSynonymy: Both Boettger 1887 as well as Hewitt 1927 describe Sepsina hessei as “sp. nov.” Sepsina grammica is a synonym of Sepsina angolensis following a note in the MCZ type catalogue (which has the type of S. grammica).

Type species: Sepsina angolensis BOCAGE 1866 is the type species of the genus Sepsina BOCAGE 1866.

Skull morphology: for a comparison of African burrowing skinks see Stepanova & Bauer 2021. 
EtymologyNamed after its distribution in Angola. 
References
  • Baptista NL, António T, Branch WR. 2019. The herpetofauna of Bicuar National Park and surroundings, southwestern Angola: a preliminary checklist. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 13(2) [Special Section]: 96–130 (e203) - get paper here
  • Barbour, T. & LOVERIDGE,A. 1929. Typical reptiles and amphibians in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. [type catalogue] Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harvard 69: 205-360 - get paper here
  • Bocage, J. V. B. 1866. Reptiles nouveaux ou peu connus recueillis dans les possessions portugaises de l'Afrique occidentale, que se trouvent au Muséum de Lisbonne. Jorn. Sci. Math. Phys. Nat. Lisboa 1: 57-78. - get paper here
  • Bocage, J. V. Barboza du. 1896. Mammiferos, aves e reptis da Hanha, no sertào de Benguella. Jornal de Sciencias Mathematicas, Physîcas e Naturaes, Lisboa (2) 14: 105-114. - get paper here
  • Bocage,J.V. du B. 1866. Lista dos reptis das possessões portuguezas d'Africa occidental que existem no Museu Lisboa. Jorn. Sci. Math. Phys. Nat. Lisboa 1: 37-56 - get paper here
  • Bocage,J.V. du B. 1867. Segunda lista dos reptis das possessões portuguezas d’Africa occidental que existem no Museu de Lisboa. Jornal de Sci. math. phys. e nat. Lisboa (3): 217-228 - get paper here
  • Boettger, OSKAR 1887. Diagnoses reptilium novorum ad ilI. viro Paul Hesse in finnibus fluminis Congo repetorum. Zool. Anz. 10 (267): 649-651 - get paper here
  • Branch, William R. 1993. A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 144 S.
  • Broadley, D. G. 1971. The reptiles and amphibians of Zambia. The Puku, Occas. Pap. Dept. Wild. Fish. Natl. Parks Zambia 6: 1-143
  • 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.
  • Butler, B O; Ceríaco, L M P; Marques, M P; Bandeira, S; Júlio, T; Heinicke, M P & Bauer, A M; 2019. Herpetological survey of Huíla Province, Southwest Angola, including first records of Bicuar National Park. Herpetological Review 50 (2): 225-240 - get paper here
  • 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
  • Greer, Allen E. 1970. The systematics and evolution of the Subsaharan Africa, Seychelles, and Mauritius Scincine Scincid lizards. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 140 (1): 1-24 - get paper here
  • Hellmich, W. 1957. Herpetologische Ergebnisse einer Forschungsreise in Angola. Veröff. Zool. Staatssammlung München 5: 1-91 - 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
  • Hewitt, J. 1927. Further descriptions of reptiles and batrachians from South Africa. Rec. Albany Mus. (Grahamstown) 3 (5): 371-415
  • 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)
  • Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig 1881. Zwei neue von Herrn Major von Mechow während seiner letzten Expedition nach West-Afrika entdeckte Schlangen und eine Übersicht der von ihm mitgebrachten herpetologischen Sammlung. Sitzungsber. Ges. naturf. Freunde Berlin 1881 (9): 147-150 - get paper here
  • Pietersen, Darren, Verburgt, Luke & Davies, John 2021. Snakes and other reptiles of Zambia and Malawi. Struik Nature / Penguin Random House South Africa, 376 pp., ISBN 9781775847373
  • SANTOS, B. S. .,MARQUES, M. P. ., BAUER, A. M. ., & CERÍACO, L. M. P. . 2021. Herpetological results of Francisco Newton’s Zoological Expedition to Angola (1903–1906): a taxonomic revision and new records of a forgotten collection. Zootaxa 5028 (1): 1–80 - get paper here
  • Stepanova, N., Bauer, A.M. 2021. Phylogenetic history influences convergence for a specialized ecology: comparative skull morphology of African burrowing skinks (Squamata; Scincidae). BMC Ecol Evo 21, 86 - get paper here
  • Witte, G. F. de 1933. Reptiles récoltés au Conge Belge par le Dr. H. Schouteden et par M. G.-F. Witte. Ann. Mus. Conge belge Zool. Ser. 1 Tome III: 53-100.
  • Witte, G. F. de & R. LAURENT 1942. Contribution à la Faune Herpétologique du Congo belge. Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr. 36 (2): 101-115
 
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