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Heliobolus spekii (GÜNTHER, 1872)

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Higher TaxaLacertidae, Eremiadinae, Sauria, Lacertoidea, Squamata (lizards)
SubspeciesHeliobolus spekii scorteccii (ARILLO, BALLETTO & SPANÒ 1965)
Heliobolus spekii sextaeniata (STEJNEGER 1893)
Heliobolus spekii spekii (GÜNTHER 1872) 
Common NamesE: Speke’s sand lizard 
SynonymEremias spekii GÜNTHER 1872: 381
Eremias rugiceps PETERS 1878: 202
Eremias speckii — STERNFELD 1912 (fide BROADLEY 1998)
Eremias spekii — LOVERIDGE 1920: 148
Eremias spekii spekii — LOVERIDGE 1936: 61
Lampreremias spekii spekii — SZCZERBAK 1989
Heliobolus spekii spekii — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 18
Heliobolus spekii — LARGEN & SPAWLS 2010: 349
Heliobolus spekii — SPAWLS et al 2018: 199

Heliobolus spekii scorteccii (ARILLO, BALLETTO & SPANÒ, 1965)
Heliobolus spekii scorteccii — LANZA 1988
Lampreremias spekii scorteccii — SZCZERBAK 1989

Heliobolus spekii sextaeniata (STEJNEGER 1893)
Eremias sextaeniata STEJNEGER 1893: 718
Eremias sextaeniata — BOULENGER 1895: 168
Eremias spekii sextaeniata — NEUMANN 1905
Eremias spekii sextaeniata — TORNIER 1905: 377
Eremias spekii sextaeniata — PARKER 1932
Eremias spekii sextaeniata — PARKER 1936: 604
Eremias spekii sextaeniata — PARKER 1942: 65
Eremias spekii sextaeniata — DREWES 1972
Heliobolus spekii sextaeniatus — LANZA 1988
Lampreremias spekii sextaeniata — SZCZERBAK 1989
Heliobolus spekii sextaeniata — MAZUCH 2013 
DistributionSomalia, Ethiopia, Republic of South Sudan (RSS), N Uganda, Kenya and N Tanzania

scortecci: from N Sudan (Jumhūriyyat) and Ethiopia to Tanzania. Type locality: Migiurtinia, Somalia

sextaeniatus: Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya (north of the Tana River); Type locality: Tana River, Kenya.

Eremias rugiceps: Type locality: “Taita” Kenya.

Type locality: Unyamwezi, Tanzania. “eastern Africa (5° 7’ southern latitude, between the coast and Unjamwesi)” fide SZCZERBAK 1989.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesSyntypes: BMNH 1946.8.6.8-9
Holotype: USNM 20080 [sextaeniata] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (3068 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentBROADLEY 1998 (in SCHMIDT’s 1919-1923 SSAR reprint) stated that STERNFELD’s specimens were allegedly collected in Rwanda or eastern Kivu but have never been cound in this area subsequently and it is probable that they were obtained at lower altitudes in Tanzania and mislabelled.

Description (sextaeniata): Tornier 1905: 377 (who also describes 21 specimens in some detail). 
EtymologyNamed after Captain John Hanning Speke (1827-1864), an explorer.

H. s. scorteccii was named after Prof. Giuseppe Scortecci (1898-1973), Italian herpetologist. 
References
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Broadley, D. G. & HOWELL, K. M. 1991. A check list of the reptiles of Tanzania, with synoptic keys. Syntarsus 1: 1—70
  • Drewes, R.C. 1972. Report on a collection of reptiles and amphibians from the Ilemi Triangle, Southwestern Sudan. Occ. Pap. Cal. Acad. Sci. (100): 1-14 - get paper here
  • GOLDBERG, S.R. 2009. Reproduction in Speke’s Sand Lizard, Heliobolus spekii (Squamata: Lacertidae) from Kenya. African Herp News (48): 2-4 - get paper here
  • Günther, A. 1872. Description of three new species of Eremias. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (4) 9: 381-382 - get paper here
  • Kirchhof S, Wasonga V, Mazuch T, Spawls S, Malonza KP. 2023. An annotated checklist of the herpetofauna of the Sibiloi National Park in northern Kenya based on field surveys. Amphibian & Reptile Conservation 17(1/2) [General Section]: 1–18 (e324) - get paper here
  • Lanza, B. 1990. Amphibians and reptiles of the Somali Democratic Republic: check list and biogeography. Biogeographia, 14: 407-465 [1988] - get paper here
  • Largen, M.J.; Spawls, S. 2006. Lizards of Ethiopia (Reptilia Sauria): an annotated checklist, bibliography, gazetteer and identification. Tropical Zoology 19 (1): 21-109 - get paper here
  • Largen, M.J.; Spawls, S. 2010. Amphibians and Reptiles of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 694 pp.
  • Loveridge, A. 1920. Notes on East African lizards collected 1915-1919, with description of a new genus and species of skink and new subspecies of gecko. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1920: 131-167 - 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
  • Loveridge, A. 1936. African reptiles and amphibians in the Field Museum of Natural History. Zool. Ser. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Chicago, 22 (1): 1-122 - get paper here
  • Malonza, Patrick K.; David M. Mulwa, Joash O. Nyamache, Georgina Jones 2017. Biogeography of the Shimba Hills ecosystem herpetofauna in Kenya. Zoological Research 38(5): 1-11 - get paper here
  • Malonza, Patrick K.; Victor D. Wasonga, Vincent Muchai , Damaris Rotich, Beryl A. Bwong; A.M. Bauer 2006. DIVERSITY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY OF HERPETOFAUNA OF THE TANA RIVER PRIMATE NATIONAL RESERVE, KENYA. Journal of East African Natural History 95(2): 95–109 - get paper here
  • Mazuch, Tomáš 2013. Amphibians and Reptiles of Somaliland and Eastern Ethiopia. Tomáš Mazuch Publishing, 80 pp. ISBN: 978-80-905439-0-4 - get paper here
  • Muchai, Vincent & Patrick Malonza 2011. The reptiles and amphibians of Kibwezi Forest, Ngulia and Chyulu Hills. Kenya Past and Present (39): 45-49 - get paper here
  • Neumann, Oscar Rudolph 1905. Über nordost-afrikanische und arabische Kriechtiere. Zool. Jahrb. Syst., 22: 389-404. - get paper here
  • Parker, H. W. 1942. The lizards of British Somaliland. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 91: 1—101 - get paper here
  • Parker,H.W. 1932. Scientific results of the Cambridge expedition to the east African lakes, 1930-31. 5. Reptiles and amphibians. Zool. J. Linnean Soc. 38: 213-229 - get paper here
  • Parker,H.W. 1936. Reptiles and amphibians collected by the Lake Rudolf Rift Valley Expedition, 1934. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (10) 18: 594-609 - get paper here
  • Peters,W.C.H. 1878. Über die von Hrn. J. M. Hildebrandt während seiner letzten ostafrikanischen Reise gesammelten Säugethiere und Amphibien. Mber. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1878: 194-209 - get paper here
  • Saber, S. A., Gebresenbet, F., Bekele, A., & Salama, E. N. 2024. Survey of Reptiles in Nechisar National Park, Southern Ethiopia. Russian Journal of Herpetology, 31(5), 293-301 - 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, Stephen; Tomáš Mazuch & Abubakr Mohammad 2023. Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of North-east Africa. Bloomsbury, 640 pp. - get paper here
  • Spawls, Steve; Kim Howell, Harald Hinkel, Michele Menegon 2018. Field Guide to East African Reptiles. Bloomsbury, 624 pp. - get paper here
  • Stejneger, L. 1893. On some collections of reptiles and batrachians from East Africa and the adjacent islands, recently received from Dr. W. L. Abbott and Mr. William Astor Chanler, with descriptions of new species. Proc. US Natl. Mus. 16: 711-741 - get paper here
  • Sternfeld, R. 1912. Die Reptilien aus der Expedition Professor Hans Meyers nach Deutsch-Ostafrika. Sber. Ges. naturf. Freunde, Berlin 7: 384-388.
  • Szczerbak, Nikolai N. 1989. Catalogue of the African Sand lizards (Reptilia: Sauria: Eremiainae: Lampreremias, Pseuderemias, Taenieremias, Mesalina, Meroles). Herpetozoa 1 (3/4): 119-132. - get paper here
  • Tornier, G. 1905. Schildkröten und Eidechsen aus Nord-Ost Afrika und Arabien. Aus Carlo v. Erlanger’s und Oscar Neumann’s Forschungsreise. Zool. Jahrb. Syst. 22: 365-388 - get paper here
 
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