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Riopa punctata (LINNAEUS, 1758)

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Lygosominae (Lygosomini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Common Dotted Garden Skink, Common snake skink, Punctate supple skink
G: Gefleckter Schlankskink 
SynonymLacerta punctata LINNAEUS 1758
Lacerta interpunctata — MEYER 1795: 29
Scincus punctatus — GMELIN 1799: 197
Seps scincoides CUVIER 1829
Eumeces punctatus — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 634 (?)
Eumeces punctatus — GRAVENHORST 1851: 359 (?)
Riopa punctata — GRAY 1845: 96
Riopa hardwickii GRAY 1845
Mabuya elegans GRAY 1845: 95
Lygosoma punctatum — BOULENGER 1887: 310
Lygosoma (Riopa) punctata — DERANIYAGALA 1931
Riopa punctata — SMITH 1935: 318
Riopa punctata — TAYLOR 1953
Riopa punctata — SWAN & LEVITON 1962: 112
Lygosoma punctatus — DAS 1996: 46
Lygosoma punctatum — ZIEGLER et al. 2007
Lygosoma punctatum — NGUYEN et al. 2009
Lygosoma punctata — GEISSLER et al. 2012
Lygosoma punctata — VYAS 2017
Riopa punctata — FREITAS et al. 2019
Riopa punctata — PATEL et al. 2019
Lygosoma punctata — SINGH et al. 2021
Lygosoma punctata — PALITA et al. 2023
Lygosoma punctate — SEKHON et al. 2023 (in error) 
DistributionIndia (from W Bengal through most of India, incl. Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Punjab, Odisha), Nepal, Vietnam, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka

Type locality: unknown (Sang et al. 2009)  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: iconotype, the male specimen, figured by Seba (1735) on the left side of figure 9 in plate 2; designated by Bauer 2003; the former syntypes (NRM 135) and the female specimen figured by Seba (1735) thus become paralectotypes. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus Riopa): Riopa can be identified by the following combination of characters: (1) body size small to medium (SVL 35–96 mm); (2) trunk moderately elongate (AGD 55–75% SVL); (3) digits short to long (FinIIILam 5–11, ToeIVLam 6–16); (4) MBSRC 19–30; (5) PVSRC 70–115; (6) lower eyelid scaly or with a transparent disc; (7) supranasal scales in contact medially, occasionally barely touching; (8) prefrontals not in contact medially; (9) frontoparietal single or paired; (10) parietals in contact behind interparietal; (11) enlarged nuchal scales usually present, occasionally absent; and (12) palatine bones with posteriomedially projecting processes, pterygoids emarginated along posterior edge or occasionally rounded [from Freitas et al. 2019] 
CommentSynonyms partly after SMITH 1935 and Bauer 2003. Note that BOULENGER 1887 also included Lacerta punctata LINNAEUS 1758 in his synonymy of Lygosoma punctata which was considered as a synonym of Trachylepis homalocephala by ANDERSON 1900.

Type species: Lacerta punctata LINNAEUS 1758 is the type species of the genus Riopa GRAY 1839. For diagnostic features see MITTLEMAN 1952: 8 and Freitas et al. 2019.

Synonymy: Riopa has been synonymized with Lygosoma by GREER (1977), which was confirmed by Datta-Roy et al. 2014.

Limb morphology: Reduced limbs.

Distribution: possibly in Bhutan (Lenz 2012). 
EtymologyNamed after the punctate pattern (or rather scales) that some specimens show in this species. 
References
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