Sauresia sepsoides GRAY, 1852
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Sauresia sepsoides
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| Higher Taxa | Diploglossidae, Diploglossa, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Eastern Four-toed Forest Lizard, Common four-toed Galliwasp |
| Synonym | Sauresia sepsoides GRAY 1852: 282 Sauresia sepoides [sic] — BOULENGER 1885: 295 Sauresia (Celestus) sepsoides — SCHMIDT 1921 Sauresia sepsoides — COCHRAN 1941 Sauresia sepsoides — GREER 1967 Diploglossus sepsoides — SCHWARTZ & THOMAS 1975: 120 Sauresia sepsoides — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991: 463 Celestus sepsoides — HEDGES et al. 1992 Sauresia sepsoides — GOOD et al. 1993 Sauresia sepsoides — SCHOOLS & HEDGES 2021 |
| Distribution | Hispaniola (Haiti, Dominican Republic) Type locality: San Domingo. |
| Reproduction | ovovivparous |
| Types | Holotype: BMNH 1946.8.29.29. Material examined by Schools & Hedges 2024 (n=41). BMNH 1946.8.29.29, M. Salle, St. Domingo. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Duarte. Hispaniola. ANSP 38665–6, Richard Thomas, Manuel Leal, and Herman Dominicia, Batez Piedra, on west side of Rio Pazabo, 13 July 1993; SBH 193149, Herman Dominicia and Richard Thomas, southern slopes of Loma Quita Espuela, 16 July 1993. Hato Mayor. ANSP 38692–6, Dan Rabosky, Richard Thomas, 5.0 km airline Sw Sabana de la Mar, 5 August 2001; ANSP 38697–702, Andres Perez, Dan Rabosky, and Richard Thomas, 7.8 km S of Sabana de la Mar, 2 August 2001; SBH 266963–75, A Perez, D Rabosky, and R Thomas, Loma del Fresca, 5.7 km airline Sw Sabana de la Mar, 3 August 2001. La Altagracia. ANSP 38678, S. Blair Hedges, Richard Thomas, and Nicholas Plummer, 7.5 km w of La Zanga, at Rio Maimon, 20 July 1991. Los Tabucos. ANSP 38706–9, Richard Thomas, 8.8 km N, thence 0.5 km w Tenares, Salcedo, 21 July 1993. Monte Plata. ANSP 38679–80, Richard Thomas, 4.3 km N of Majagual, 13 July 1993. Salcedo. ANSP 38703–5, Richard Thomas, 23.2 km N of thence 4.5 km w Tenares, = 0.2 km E Jaiba, 21 July 1993. Sanchez Ramirez. ANSP 38670–2, Richard Thomas and Manuel Leal, 8.6 km NE of, thence 8.1 km east Cotui, =El Aguacate, 11 July 1993. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus Sauresia). Species of Sauresia have (1) claw sheath, present, (2) contact between the nasal and rostral scales, absent, (3) scales in contact with the nasal scale, four, (4) postnasal scales, one, (5) position of the nostril in the nasal scale, central, (6) keels on dorsal body scales, absent, (7) digits per limb, four, (8) longest toe lamellae, 8–12, (9) dorsal scale rows, 101–127, (10) relative head width, 9.36–12.2, (11) relative rostral height, 41.3–66.2, (12) relative frontonasal length, 1.70–2.56, (13) relative interparietal distance, 0–0.431, (14) relative axilla-groin distance 63.9–69.9. From Advenus gen. nov., we distinguish Sauresia by the digits per limb (four versus five in Advenus gen. nov.), the longest toe lamellae (8–12 versus 16–17), the dorsal scale rows (101–127 versus 96), the distance between the parietal scales (0–0.431 versus 0.632), and the relative axilla-groin distance (63.9–69.9 versus 60.0). From Caribicus gen. nov., we distinguish Sauresia by the claw sheath (present versus absent in Caribicus gen. nov.), keels on the dorsal body scales (absent versus their presence in Caribicus gen. nov.), digits per limb (four versus five), relative frontonasal length (1.70–2.56 versus 2.98–3.32), and the distance between the parietal scales (0– 0.431 versus 0.468–1.42). From Celestus, we distinguish Sauresia by the claw sheath (present versus its absence in Celestus) and the digits per limb (four versus five). From Comptus gen. nov., we distinguish Sauresia by the claw sheath (present versus its absence in Comptus gen. nov.), keels on the dorsal body scales (absent versus their presence in Comptus gen. nov.), digits per limb (four versus five), the longest toe lamellae (8–12 versus 13–23), the relative frontonasal length (1.70–2.56 versus 2.95–3.65), and the relative axilla-groin distance (63.9–69.9 versus 51.9–60.0). From Panolopus, we distinguish Sauresia by the claw sheath (present versus its absence in Panolopus), digits per limb (four versus five), dorsal scale rows (101–127 versus 83–100), and the relative axilla-groin distance (63.9–69.9 versus 49.7–59.6). From Wetmorena, we distinguish Sauresia by the distance between the parietal scales (0–0.431 versus 0.447–1.03) (SCHOOLS & HEDGES 2021). |
| Comment | For illustrations see Boulenger, 1885; Cochran,1941. Synonymy: Embryopus Habichii WEINLAND 1863: 135 was resurrected from the synonymy of S. sepsoides by Schools & Hedges 2024. Type species: Sauresia sepsoides GRAY 1852: 282 is the type species of the genus Sauresia GRAY 1852. The genus is monotypic. Similar species: Sauresia cayemitae sp. nov. and S. synoria sp. nov. can only be separated by the frontal width by the SVL (3.11–3.75 [n=7] versus 3.78–4.32 [n=2]). (Schools & Hedges 2024). Habitat: Wetmorena, Sauresia are some Diploglossus are soil-adapted ecomorphs (Schools et al. 2022). |
| Etymology | Named after Latin sepsoides, from Greek sepsoid "lizard-like" + -es, in reference to the elongate habitus of this species which makes it “similar to Seps,” referring to a genus known at the time for skinks with reduced limbs. Historically, the name Seps has been associated with limb-reduced lizards, a usage that dates back to Linnaeus with the species Lacerta seps. The term has even older roots in Latin, where “seps” referred to small, venomous snakes or lizards, stemming from the Greek word sepein, which means “to putrefy.” (Schools & Hedges 2024) |
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