| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Lygosominae (Lygosomini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Somali Writhing Skink |
| Synonym | Riopa modesta somalica PARKER 1942: 90
Mochlus sundevalli somalicus — LAURENT & GANS 1965: 38
Lygosoma sundevalli somalicum — WELCH 1982: 82
Lygosoma somalicum — LANZA 1990
Lygosoma somalicum — LARGEN & SPAWLS 2006: 67
Lygosoma somalicum — LARGEN & SPAWLS 2010: 379
Mochlus somalicum — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 154 |
| Distribution | Somalia, E Ethiopia, SE Kenya, NE Tanzania
Type locality: near Berbera, inland of Berbera and Wagga (Goolis Mts), Somalia; 10°10’N 42°50’E, 4500 feet elevation, Ethiopia; 10°05’N 43°00’E, 5500 feet elevation, Ethiopia
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| Reproduction | |
| Types | Syntypes: BMNH 1946.8.6.98-99 (formerly 1905.11.7.30-31), Wagga, Goolis Mountains, near Berbera, collected G.W. Bury; 1946.8.7.5 (formerly 1937.12.5.747), 1946.8.7.6 (formerly 1937.12.5.746), Borama district, British Somaliland, collected R.H.R. Taylor; 1946.8.10.65-66 (formerly 1905.10.30.97-98), near Barbera, Sopmaliland, collected G.W. Bury; 1946.8.10.86-87 (formerly 95.6.14.25-26), inland of Berbera, collected E. Lort-Phillips; MNHN (=MNHP) 1918.15, near Berbera, collected G.W. Bury. MNHN syntype incorrectly cited as 1918.5 by Parker (see Brygoo, 1985). |
| Diagnosis | |
| Comment | Lygosoma modestum from Ethiopia (quoted by BOULENGER 1895) could belong to this species. |
| Etymology | Named after its distribution in Somalia. |
| References |
- Boulenger, G.A. 1895. An account of the reptiles and batrachians collected by Dr. A. Donaldson Smith in western Somaliland and the Galla Country. Proc. zool. Soc. London 1895: 530-540 - get paper here
- Broadley, D.G. 1966. A review of the Riopa sundevalli group (Sauria: Scincidae) in Southern Africa. Arnoldia (Rhodesia) (ser. 2) 34: 1-7
- Gans, C.; LAURENT, R.F. & PANDIT, H. 1965. Notes on a herpetological collection from the Somali Republic. Ann. Mus. Roy. Afr. Centr., Sér. 8vo, Tervuren, (80) Zool., (134): 1-93
- 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.
- 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
- Parker, H. W. 1942. The lizards of British Somaliland. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 91: 1—101 - get paper here
- 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
- Welch, K.R.G. 1982. Herpetology of Africa; a checklist and bibliography of the orders Amphisbaenia, Sauria, and Serpentes. Robert E. Krieger Pub. Co., Malabar, FL 293 pp.
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