Lipinia pulchella (GRAY, 1845)
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Lipinia pulchella
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | Lipinia pulchella levitoni (BROWN & ALCALA 1963) Lipinia pulchella pulchella (GRAY 1845) Lipinia pulchella taylori (BROWN & ALCALA 1956) |
| Common Names | E: Beautiful Lipinia |
| Synonym | Lygosoma (Leiolopisma) pulchellum GRAY 1845: 84 Leiolopisma pulchellum grande TAYLOR 1917: 374 Leiolopisma pulchellum — TAYLOR 1922: 212 Leiolopisma pulchellum grande — TAYLOR 1922: 214 Lygosoma (Leiolopisma) pulchellum — SMITH 1937: 224 Lygosoma (Leiolopisma) pulchellum — BROWN & ALCALA 1956: 7 Lygosoma (Leiolopisma) pulchellum — BROWN & ALCALA 1963 Lipinia pulchella — GREER 1974: 11 Lipinia pulchella — BROWN & ALCALA 1980: 93 Lipinia pulchella — DAS & AUSTIN 2007 Lipinia pulchella pulchellai — BINADAY et al. 2017 Lipinia pulchella levitoni (BROWN & ALCALA 1963) Lygosoma (Leiolopisma) pulchella levitoni BROWN & ALCALA 1963: 78 Lipinia pulchella levitoni — BROWN & ALCALA 1980: 96 Lipinia pulchella taylori (BROWN & ALCALA 1956) Lygosoma (Leiolopisma) puchellum taylori BROWN & ALCALA 1956: 8 Lipinia pulchella taylori GRAY — BROWN et al. 1996 Lipinia pulchella taylori — GAULKE 2011: 204 |
| Distribution | Philippines (Luzon, Mindanao, Negros, Bohol, Pollillo, Panay, Masbate) Type locality: Philippines grande: Mount Canlaon levitoni: Philippines; taylori: Philippines (Negros, Panay, Luzon ?); Type locality: “Mount Canlaon, Negros Island”, Philippines. |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: BMNH 1946.8.16.41 (formerly xv.36a), Holotype: FMNH 120953 [levitoni] Holotype: CM 2202 [taylori] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus): Members of the genus are characterized by the following suite of characters: small body size(SVL to 58 mm); lower eyelid with a clear window (except in Lipinia leptosoma); auricular lobules absent; body scales smooth; longitudinal scale rows at midbody # 28; basal subdigital lamellae expanded (slightly in some taxa);postorbital absent; vomers fused; pterygoid teeth absent; dorsal color pattern typicallycomprising a pale (rarely dark) middorsal stripe at least anteriorly; visceral fat bodies absent (except in Lipinia noctua); brood size of two (exceptionally one, as in Lipinia rouxi) (Das and Greer, 2002). Diagnosis: external ear opening present; 51–58 longitudinal scales between parietals and tail base; 22–26 midbody scale rows; and 24–31 lamellae under toe IV (from DAS & AUSTIN 2007). The three subspecies of pulchellum which we do recognize may be distinguished by the following key (from Brown & Alcala 1963): 1a. Six large supraoculars, 4 of which are more or less rectangular in shape and much broader than long --> 2 1b. Four or 5 large supraoculars, 2 or 3 of which are more or less rec tangular and much broader than long --> pulchellum 2a. A whitish vertebral stripe occupying the mesial third of the vertebral rows of scales, marked by occasional encroachments of brown flecks; a series of irregularly shaped brown spots on either side of the vertebral stripe, each spot three or four scales in length and separated from adjacent spots by lighter, brown-flecked areas one to two scales in length (Fig. 3, a) --> taylori 2b. Light vertebral stripe absent, the area with brown flecks throughout; dorsolateral series of irregularly shaped dark brown spots present, each spot two or three scales in length, separated by light brown areas of about equal length (Fig. 3, a) --> levitoni |
| Comment | Type Species: Lygosoma pulchellum GRAY 1845 is the type species of the genus Lipinia Gray, 1845. Synonymy: the status of Leiolopisma pulchellum grande is unclear. Keys: Brown and Alcala 1980 provide a key to Philippine Lipinia. Poyarkov et al. 2019 provide a key to mainland Southeast-Asian Lipinia. |
| Etymology | Named after Latin “pulchella” = pretty. |
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