Brachyseps punctatus (RAXWORTHY & NUSSBAUM, 1993)
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Brachyseps punctatus
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Amphiglossus punctatus RAXWORTHY & NUSSBAUM 1993: 335 Amphiglossus punctatus — GLAW & VENCES 1994: 315 Amphiglossus punctatus — SCHMITZ et al. 2005 Amphiglossus punctatus — MIRALLES et al. 2011 Brachyseps punctatus — ERENS et al. 2017 |
| Distribution | Madagascar Type locality: next to the Efarilampo River (tributary of the Itadreha River), 24°06' S, 47°20' E, 50 m altitude, Marovony Forest, 22 km north of Manantenina, Tôlanaro (Fort Dauphin) Fivondronana, Toliara (Tulear) Province, Madagascar, |
| Reproduction | Amphiglossus punctatus is the first member of the genus known to be ovovivparous. |
| Types | Holotype: UMMZ 195749, an adult female, collected 6 December 1990 by Christopher J. Raxworthy; Paratypes: UMMZ |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A medium-sized Amphiglossus, 73 mm maximum SVL with 22 longitudinal rows of scales around the midbody (all the same size), 64-69 scales between mental scale and anal scale, 30-31 presacral vertebrae, 17-20 lamellae under the fourth toe of the hindfoot. Dorsal coloration is pale brown, with each scale marked with a single brown spot on body, limbs and tail; head longitudinally striped with stripes running down to shoulders or full length of the body; a central pair of dark brown stripes which diverge at snout tip, run back through supraocularso nto the shoulders, and may continue down the lower back;a second lateral stripe running along the upper labials, through eye and onto neck, before fading. No other species of Amphiglossus has markingslike A. punctatus. Amphiglossus melanopleura is the only other species that has similar scale counts and numbers of presacral vertebrae,but it can be separated from A. punctatus by the following characters: A. melanopleura has fewer ventrals between the mental and anal scale (56-63), fewer lamellae under the fourth toe of the hindfoot (10-16), is smaller in size (maximum SVL 52 mm), and lacks longitudinal stripes on the head (Brygoo, 1984a; Raxworthy & Nussbaum 1993: 336). Variation. The measurements and scale characteristics of the holotype and paratypes are shown in Table 2 (in Raxworthy & Nussbaum 1993). The fore- and hindlimbs touch when apressed against the body in the newborn juveniles. Some variationin markings exists(Fig. 8). UMMZ 192701, from Ambatovaky, has the two central dark brown bands of the head fusing together at the shoulders, which continues down to the tail base, and is edged by a prominent pale dorsolateral band. The throat and belly are marked by fine dark brown spots. This pigmentation pattern may be typical for animals from the Northeast and East. UMMZ 195756, the largest individual, is unusual in that the stripes of the head are broken,and the dark spots on each scale are more irregular in shape and arrangement. The spots and stripes became more irregular with age. UMMZ 195750-2 all have very similar juvenile markings (Fig. 9), which are distinct from the adult in the following characters: the head and shoulders are boldly striped with three longitudinal pale yellow-green lines (one median and two dorsolateral)on a dark brown background;at the shoulders each pale line divides to form two thinner pale brown lines (giving six in total), which fade at the tail base; the tail dorsallyand ventrally is dark brown in the two newborn. |
| Comment | |
| Etymology | The name describes the distinct spotted coloration of this species, in which each dorsal scale is marked by a single dark spot. |
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