Heliobolus bivari MARQUES, CERÍACO, HEINICKE, CHEBOURI, CONRADIE, TOLLEY & BAUER, 2022
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Heliobolus bivari
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| Higher Taxa | Lacertidae, Eremiadinae, Sauria, Lacertoidea, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Bivar’s bushveld lizard Portuguese: lagartixa de Bivar |
| Synonym | Heliobolus bivari MARQUES, CERÍACO, HEINICKE, CHEBOURI, CONRADIE, TOLLEY & BAUER 2022 |
| Distribution | Angola (southwestern xeric/desertic lowlands) Type locality: Virulundo, Namibe Province, Angola (–16.2852°S, 12.9419°E), 718 m elevation |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: CAS 266287, adult female, collected by Luis M.P. Ceríaco, Suzana A. Bandeira and Ishan Agarwal on 2 December 2016. Paratypes (n=16); CAS 266276-266286; PEM R17965, 17966, 21626; 21630, 24128, 24129 |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: “A medium-sized lizard, identified to genus by the following combination of charac-ters: well-developed limbs, slender body, elongated snout, long tail, and a distinct collar on ventral region. Heliobolus bivari can be distinguished from other members of its genus by the following combination of characteristics: (1) stout medium-size body (mean SVL 54.6 mm); (2) long-tailed (mean 123.7 mm), tail more than twice the body length; (3) midbody scale rows 64–82 (mean: 71.5); (4) higher number of subdigital lamellae under the fourth toe (mean: 26.6); (5) parietals usually in contact, rarely separated; (6) cranial shields not ornamented and temporal shield smooth; (7) lateral dark marking through the ear to the posterior margin of the eye faded or totally absent; (8) absence of bright yellow dots ventrolaterally.” Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 3321 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Distribution: Possibly widespread to neighboring Namibia. Diet: Expected to be similar to other Heliobolus species, therefore being oviparous and insectivorous. Natural history: As commonly observed in juvenile H. lugubris individuals, it is assumed that juveniles of H. bivari mimic Anthia (Carabidae) ground beetles, both through their iconic white and yellow markings on a black body, and by adopting an “arched” position when walking, imitating the general shape of a beetle. |
| Etymology | Named after the Portuguese entomologist António Bivar de Sousa (Lisbon, 1946–), a researcher at the recently defunct Instituto de Investigação Ciemtífica Tropical (IICT), Lisboa, Portugal. Bivar de Sousa has had an important role in entomological research in Angola. Specific epithet is a patronym in the masculine genitive singular. |
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