Pseudoacontias menamainty ANDREONE & GREER, 2002

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Higher Taxa	Scincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies
Common Names
Synonym	Pseudoacontias menamainty ANDREONE & GREER 2002 Pseudoacontias menamainty — SCHMITZ et al. 2005 Pseudoacontias menamainty — LIVIGNI 2013: 269
Distribution	NE Madagascar Type locality: collected at Berara Forest, Sahamalaza Peninsula, Analalava Fivondronana, Mahajanga Faritany (Majunga Province), 14°18.55'S, 47°54.92'E, elevation c. 170 m.
Reproduction	oviparous (phylogenetic imputation, fide Zimin et al. 2022)
Types	Holotype: MRSN R1826
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: A species of Pseudoacontias distinguished from the two other species in the genus, P. angelorum Nussbaum & Raxworthy, 1995 and P. madagascariensis Barboza du Bocage, 1889 (holotype and only known specimen destroyed), in the following combination of characters: frontal divided obliquely (possibly anomalous); nostril well into rostral scale (vs close to posterior edge); loreal slightly deeper than long (much longer than deep); supralabials five (six); infralabials four (five and six, respectively); front limb represented by a `button'-like scale (no trace and no reported trace, respectively); rear limb absent (short and paddle-like and no reported trace, respectively); longitudinal scale rows at mid-body 25 (34 and 32, respectively), and presacral vertebrae 67 (82 and unknown, respectively) (Andreone et al. 2002).
Comment	No hindlimbs, forelimbs reduced to a button-like scale; no ear openings visible. Only known from a single specimen. Abundance: only known from the type locality (Meiri et al. 2017). This is one of the species called 'lost' and 'rediscovered' by Lindken et al. 2024.
Etymology	The specific name `menamainty' is a compound Malagasy word which is based on the words `mena' for `red' and `mainty' for `black' and refers to the red and black striped aspect of this skink in life. It is used here as a noun in apposition (`the red and black one'). The phonetic rendition is: “mai”na-”ma”inty (accented syllables in quotes).
References	Andreone, F. & Greer, A.E. 2002. Malagasy scincid lizards: descriptions of nine new species, with notes on the morphology, reproduction and taxonomy of some previously described species (Reptilia, Squamata: Scincidae). Journal of Zoology 258, 139-181 - get paper here Belluardo, F., Muñoz-Pajares, A. J., Miralles, A., Silvestro, D., Cocca, W., Ratsoavina, F. M., ... & Crottini, A. 2022. Slow and steady wins the race: Diversification rate is independent from body size and lifestyle in Malagasy skinks (Squamata: Scincidae: Scincinae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 107635 - get paper here Lindken T.; Anderson, C. V., Ariano-Sánchez, D., Barki, G., Biggs, C., Bowles, P., Chaitanya, R., Cronin, D. T., Jähnig, S. C., Jeschke, J. M., Kennerley, R. J., Lacher, T. E. Jr., Luedtke, J. A., Liu, C., Long, B., Mallon, D., Martin, G. M., Meiri, 2024. What factors influence the rediscovery of lost tetrapod species? Global Change Biology, 30: 1-18 - get paper here LiVigni, F. (ed.) 2013. A Life for Reptiles and Amphibians, Volume 1. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 495 pp. - get paper here Meiri, Shai; Aaron M. Bauer, Allen Allison, Fernando Castro-Herrera, Laurent Chirio, Guarino Colli, Indraneil Das, Tiffany M. Doan, Frank Glaw, Lee L. Grismer, Marinus Hoogmoed, Fred Kraus, Matthew LeBreton, Danny Meirte, Zoltán T. Nagy, Cristiano d 2017. Extinct, obscure or imaginary: the lizard species with the smallest ranges. Diversity and Distributions - get paper here Schmitz, A.; M.C. Brandley; P. Mausfeld; M. Vences; F. Glaw; R.A. Nussbaum and T.W. Reeder 2005. Opening the black box: phylogenetics and morphological evolution of the Malagasy fossorial lizards of the subfamily “Scincinae”. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 34: 118–133 (published online 2004) - get paper here Zimin, A., Zimin, S. V., Shine, R., Avila, L., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., Barki, G., de Oliveira Caetano, G. H., Castro Herrera, F., Chapple, D. G., Chirio, L., Colli, G. R., Doan, T. M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L. L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton 2022. A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–16 - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information Google images

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