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Mesalina kuri JOGER & MAYER, 2002

IUCN Red List - Mesalina kuri - Least Concern, LC

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Higher TaxaLacertidae, Eremiadinae, Sauria, Lacertoidea, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymMesalina kuri JOGER & MAYER 2002
Mesalina kuri — RÖSLER & WRANIK 2004
Mesalina kuri — YOUSEFKHANI et al. 2015 
DistributionYemen (Socotra Island, Darsa Island, Samha, Abd al-Kuri)

Type locality: Abd al-Kuri Island, west coast, Yemen (12 11’ N, 53 14’ E)  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: HLMD RA-2796-HT; paratypes: NMW 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A large-bodied Mesalina, with the tail longer than twice the snout-vent length; unkeeled scales on top of the tibia; five or more slightly pigmented scales of equal size in the palpebral disk of the eyelid; a dorsal colour pattern lacking continuous dark lines, with 44-52 dorsal scale rows.

Diagnosis. A large-bodied Mesalina, with tail longer than twice snout-vent length; unkeeled scales on top of tibia; five or more slightly pigmented scales of equal size in palpebral disk of eyelid; a dorsal color pattern lacking continuous dark lines, with 44 – 52 dorsal scales rows. Seven lower and 8 upper labials on both sides. Number of transverse ventral scale rows 27 (counted from collar to groin); 46 dorsal scale rows around midbody; 16 scales under fourth finger, and 24 scales under fourth toe. Scales above eye: 2 large central and 2 medium-sized outer su- praocular, accompanied distally by a row of smaller scales composed of 12 scales on the left and 9 scales on the right. Frontonasal scale in contact with rostral; parie- tals in contact with each other, although a large inter- parietal and a small triangular occipital scale are present. Femoral pores number 16 on each side. Dorsal surface of head light brown; some black spots on the interparietal and parietals; lateral margins of parietals blackish. Sides of head whitish, with two dark lateral streaks, one from eye to upper ear opening and other from fifth supralabial to anterior ear opening. Dorsal color light grayish brown medially, with an alternating pattern of a row of small white spots, a row of small blackish spots, a thin white line, and a thin row of black streaks interrupted by small white spots from the vertebral area to the lateral fold. Venter and undersides of head and tail uniform whitish. Tail grey above, with a thin black vertebral line and a lat- eral row of black spots. Hind legs with ocellae-like white-centered spots; foreleg more or less uniform gray (Joger and Mayer, 2002, Yousefkhani et al. 2015). 
Comment 
EtymologyNamed after the type locality. 
References
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Gemel, R.; G. Gassner & S. Schweiger 2019. Katalog der Typen der Herpetologischen Sammlung des Naturhistorischen Museums Wien – 2018. Ann. Naturhist. Mus. Wien, B 121: 33–248
  • Hosseinian-Yousefkhani, Seyyed Saeed; Gabriel M.D. Marmol Marin, Nasrullah Rastegar-Pouyani, Eskandar Rastegar-Pouyani 2015. A Bibliographic Recompilation of the Genus Mesalina Gray, 1838 (Sauria: Lacertidae) with a Key to the Species. Russ. J. Herpetol. 22 (1): 23-34 - get paper here
  • Joger, U. & Mayer, W. 2002. A new species of Mesalina (Reptilia: Lacertidae) from Abd al-Kuri, Socotra Archipelago, Yemen, and a preliminary molecular phylogeny for the genus Mesalina. Fauna of Arabia 19: 497-505
  • Kapli, P., Lymberakis, P., Crochet, P.-A., Geniez, P., Brito, J. C., Almutairi, M., Ahmadzadeh, F., Schmitz, A., Wilms, T., Pouyani, N. R., Poulakakis, N. 2014. Historical biogeography of the lacertid lizard Mesalina in North Africa and the Middle East. Journal of Biogeography, doi: 10.1111/jbi.12420 - get paper here
  • Razzetti, Edoardo; ROBERTO SINDACO, CRISTINA GRIECO, FRANCESCA PELLA, UGO ZILIANI, FABIO PUPIN, ELISA RISERVATO, DANIELE PELLITTERI-ROSA, LUCA BUTIKOFER, AHMED SAEED SULEIMAN, BADAR AWADH AL-ASEILY, CATERINA CARUGATI, ELEONORA BONCOMPAGNI & MAURO FAS 2011. Annotated checklist and distribution of the Socotran Archipelago Herpetofauna (Reptilia). Zootaxa 2826: 1–44 - get paper here
  • Rösler, H. & Wranik, W. 2004. A key and annotated checklist to the reptiles of the Socotra archipelago. Fauna of Arabia 20: 505-534
  • Simó-Riudalbas, M., Tamar, K., Šmíd, J., Mitsi, P., Sindaco, R., Chirio, L., & Carranza, S. 2019. Biogeography of Mesalina (Reptilia: Lacertidae), with special emphasis on the Mesalina adramitana group from Arabia and the Socotra Archipelago. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - get paper here
 
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