Scelotes arenicola (PETERS, 1854)
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Scelotes arenicola?
Scelotes arenicola
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Zululand Dwarf Burrowing Skink |
| Synonym | Lithophilus bicolor SMITH 1849: 13 Herpetosaura arenicola PETERS 1854: 619 Herpetosaura arenicola — PETERS 1855: 49 & Herpetosaura arenicola — PETERS 1882: 79 Scelotes arenicola — BOULENGER 1887: 415 Scelotes bicolor — BOULENGER 1887: 416 Herpetosaura arenicola — BOULENGER 1890: 80 Herpetosaura arenicola — TORNIER 1902: 704 Herpetosaura arenicola — BOULENGER 1907: 486 Herpetosaura arenicola — BOULENGER 1908: 227 Herpetosaura arenicola — BOULENGER 1910: 488 Herpetosaura arenicola — HEWITT 1910: 92 Scelotes arenicola — HEWITT 1927: 355 Herpetosaura arenicola — HEWITT 1929: 3 Herpetosaura arenicola — FITZSIMONS 1930: 37 Scelotes arenicola — FITZSIMONS 1943: 196 Scelotes bicolor — DE WITTE & LAURENT 1943 Scelotes arenicola — WITTE & LAURENT 1943: 31 Scelotes arenicolor [sic] — GREER 1970: 10 Scelotes arenicola — POOLEY 1970: 65 Scelotes arenicola — POOLEY el al. 1973: 110 Scelotes arenicola — BRUTON & HAACKE 1980: 255 (part) Scelotes bicolor — WELCH 1982: 75 Scelotes arenicola — BRANCH 1988: 120 Scelotes arenicola arenicola — BROADLEY 1990: 475 Scelotes arenicolus — BAUER et al. 2003: 280 Scelotes arenicola — WHITING et al. 2003 Scelotes arenicola — BAUER 2016 Scelotes arenicolus — BATES et al. 2014: 270 Scelotes arenicolus — JORDAAN et al. 2023 |
| Distribution | Republic of South Africa (Zululand), Natal, S Mozambique (Angoche), Swaziland Type locality: “Inhambane, Lourenzo-Marques” [= Maputo, Mozambique] bicolor: Republic of South Africa (Little Namaqualand) |
| Reproduction | ovovivparous |
| Types | Lectotype: NMW 19059 (Designation by Broadley 1994); Paralectotypes: ZMB 4818, 9413-4, 9415, NMW 19059 (fide Tiedemann et al. 1994). Broadley 1994 notes that ZMB 4818 is disintegrating and that ZMB 9413 is dessicated, so he designated a lectotype. Holotype: unlocated (Fitzsimons 1937: 269) [bicolor] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Broadley 1994: 255. |
| Comment | Group: Belongs to the S. arenicola group. Limb morphology: limbless (Branch 1998: 140). Synonymy: after BRANCH & BAUER 2005, Bauer 2016 and Lynn Raw (pers. comm, 3 Oct 2022). S. bicolor was known from only the type which is now lost. Note that the name is indeed “arenicola”, despite the fact that Scelotes is masculine. Bauer 2016 justified the use of arenicola over bicolor. The correct formulation of the epithet is indeed arenicola, not arenicolus fide Bauer 2016; incola is a Latin noun of common gender meaning resident or dweller. |
| Etymology | Named after the Latin noun arena, "sand," and adjective -cola, "dweller," refer to the habitat where the species lives. |
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