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Adolfus alleni (BARBOUR, 1914)

IUCN Red List - Adolfus alleni - Near Threatened, NT

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Higher TaxaLacertidae, Eremiadinae, Sauria, Lacertoidea, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Alpine Meadow Lizard 
SynonymAlgiroides alleni BARBOUR 1914
Algiroides alleni — BOULENGER 1920: 352
Algiroides alleni — LOVERIDGE 1923: 952
Algyroides alleni —GREER 1968
Adolfus alleni — ARNOLD 1989
Adolfus alleni — SPAWLS & ROTICH 1997
Adolfus alleni — KÖHLER et al. 2004
Adolfus alleni — GREENBAUM et al. 2011
Adolfus alleni — SPAWLS et al 2018: 182 
DistributionKenya, Uganda

In altitudes (elevations) about 2700 m in several mountains of Uganda (Mount Elgon) and Kenya (Cherangani Hills, Mount Kenia, Aberdare Mountains)

Type locality: “near the tree limit, north- east slope of Mt. Kenia [= Mt. Kenya]”, Kenya  
Reproductionoviparous (Greer 1968) 
TypesHolotype: MCZ R-9280 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: This species is unique by the following combination of characters: medium size (SVL 54.3–62.8 mm), low number of temporal scales (5–10), low number of scales around midbody (18–23), and a vertebral stripe often including the occipital scale (for a detailed differencial diagnosis see A. masavaensis).


Additional details (76 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentComparisons: Arnold 1989 presents a list of 51 characters across 4 species of Adolfus (A. jacksoni, alleni, africanus, vauereselli). 
EtymologyNamed after Dr. Glover Morrill AlIen (1879-1942) American collector, curator, mammalogist, ornithologist, scientist, teacher, Curator of Mammals (1925-1938) at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard, Professor of Zoology (1938-1942), and President of the American Society of Mammalogists (1927-1929), among many other positions. 
References
  • Angel, Fernand 1925. Résultats Scientifiques. Vertebrata. Reptiles et Batraciens. [Mabuia (Mabuiopsis) jeanneli, Lygosoma graueri quinquedigitata, Ablepharus massaiensis]. In: Voyage de Ch. Alluaud et R. Jeannel en Afrique Orientale (1911-1912). - Paris, 2: 1-63.
  • Arnold, E.N. 1989. Systematics and adaptive radiation of Equatorial African lizards assigned to the genera Adolfus, Bedriagaia, Gastropholis, Holaspis and Lacerta (Reptilia: Lacertidae) Journal of Natural History 23: 525-555 - get paper here
  • Barbour, T. 1914. Some new reptiles. Proc. New England zool. Club 4: 95-98. - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • GREENBAUM, ELI; CESAR O. VILLANUEVA, CHIFUNDERA KUSAMBA, MWENEBATU M. ARISTOTE and WILLIAM R. BRANCH 2011. A molecular phylogeny of Equatorial African Lacertidae, with the description of a new genus and species from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 163: 913–942 - get paper here
  • Greenbaum, Eli; Stephanie Dowell Beer, Daniel F. Hughes, Philipp Wagner, Christopher G. Anderson, Cesar O. Villanueva, Patrick K. Malonza, Chifundera Kusamba, Wandege M. Muninga, Mwenebatu M. Aristote, and William R. Branch 2018. Phylogeography of Jackson's Forest Lizard Adolfus jacksoni (Sauria: Lacertidae) Reveals Cryptic Diversity in the Highlands of East Africa. Herpetological Monographs 32 (1): 51-68 - get paper here
  • Greer, A.E. 1968. Mode of reproduction in the squamate faunas of three altitudinally correlated life zones in East Africa. Herpetologica 24(3): 229-232 - get paper here
  • Köhler, J., P. Wagner, S. Visser & W. Böhme 2003. New country records of Adolfus africanus (Sauria: Lacertidae) – a rain forest lizard with disjunct distribution? Salamandra 39 (3-4): 241-248 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1923. Notes on East African lizards collected 1920-1923 with the description of two new races of Agama lionotus Blgr. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1923: 935-969 - get paper here
  • Spawls, S. & Rotich, D. 1997. An annotated checklist of the lizards of Kenya. J. East African Nat. Hist. 86: 61-83
  • Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2002. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147] - get paper here
  • Spawls, Steve; Kim Howell, Harald Hinkel, Michele Menegon 2018. Field Guide to East African Reptiles. Bloomsbury, 624 pp. - get paper here
  • Wagner, P., E. Greenbaum, P. Malonza & B. Branch 2014. Resolving sky island speciation in populations of East African Adolfus alleni (Sauria, Lacertidae). Salamandra 50 (1): 1-17 - get paper here
 
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