Spondylurus haitiae HEDGES & CONN, 2012
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Spondylurus haitiae
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Mabuyinae (Mabuyini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Hispaniolan Four-lined Skink |
| Synonym | Spondylurus haitiae HEDGES & CONN 2012: 158 Mabuia nitida — GARMAN, 1887:51 (originally a syntype) Mabuya sloanii — STEJNEGER, 1904:608 (part) Mabuya sloanii — BARBOUR, 1914:320 (part) Mabuya sloanii — SCHMIDT, 1928:121 (part) Mabuya sloanii — BARBOUR, 1930:105 (part). Mabuya mabouia — BARBOUR, 1935:129 (part) Mabuya mabouya sloanii — DUNN, 1936:544 (part) Mabuya mabouia — BARBOUR, 1937:147 (part) Mabuya mabouya sloanei — SCHWARTZ & THOMAS, 1975:141 (part) Mabuya mabouya sloanei — MACLEAN et al., 1977:24 (part) Mabuya mabouya sloanei — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON, 1988:151 (part) Mabuya mabouya sloanei — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON, 1991:457 (part) Mabuya bistriata — POWELL et al., 1996:82 (part) Mabuya sloanii — MAYER & LAZELL, 2000:883 (part) Mabuya sloanii — MIRALLES, 2005:49 (part) Mabuya sloanii — HENDERSON & POWELL, 2009:293 (part) |
| Distribution | Haiti Type locality: Jérémie, Haiti |
| Reproduction | viviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) |
| Types | Holotype: MCZ R-3617, an adult female from "San Domingo" collected by D. F. Weinland, here restricted to Jérémie, Grand'Anse, Haiti. Date of collection inferred to be 1857–58 by HEDGES & CONN 2012. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Spondylurus haitiae sp. nov. is characterized by (1) maximum SVL in males, not available; (2) maximum SVL in female holotype, 85.2 mm; (3) snout width, 2.69% SVL; (4) head length, 15.8% SVL, (5) head width, 12.3% SVL; (6) ear length, 1.19% SVL; (7) toe-IV length, 9.01% SVL; (8) prefrontals, two; (9) supraoculars, four; (10) supraciliaries, four; (11) frontoparietals, one (50%), two (50%); (12) supralabial below the eye, six; (13) nuchal rows, two; (14) dorsals, 59–60; (15) ventrals, 69–72; (16) dorsals + ventrals, 129–131; (17) midbody scale rows, 30–32; (18) finger-IV lamellae, 12–13; (19) toe-IV lamellae, 16–17; (20) finger-IV + toe-IV lamellae, 29–30; (21) supranasal contact, Y (50%), N (50%); (22) prefrontal contact, Y (50%), N (50%); (23) supraocular-1/frontal contact, N; (24) parietal contact, Y; (25) pale middorsal stripe, Y; (26) dark dorsolateral stripe, Y; (27) dark lateral stripe, Y; (28) pale lateral stripe, Y; and (29) palms and soles, pale (Tables 3–5). Within the Genus Spondylurus, S. haitiae sp. nov. is separated from S. culebrae sp. nov., S. fulgidus, S. macleani, S. magnacruzae sp. nov., S. martinae sp. nov., S. monae sp. nov., S. monitae sp. nov., S. nitidus, S. powelli sp. nov., S. spilonotus, and S. turksae sp. nov. by having a smaller ear (ear length 1.19% SVL versus 1.23– 2.83% in those other species). It differs from S. fulgidus, S. lineolatus, S. macleani, S. nitidus, S. powelli sp. nov., S. sloanii, S. spilonotus, and S. turksae sp. nov. by having a higher number of ventral scales (69–72 versus 55–68 in those other species). From S. anegadae sp. nov., S. culebrae sp. nov., S. monae sp. nov., S. monitae sp. nov., and S. semitaeniatus, it is distinguished by having a narrower dark dorsolateral stripe (dorsolateral stripe width 2.12% SVL versus 2.24–4.64% SVL in those other species). It differs from S. culebrae sp. nov., S. fulgidus, S. macleani, S. magnacruzae sp. nov., S. monae sp. nov., S. monitae sp. nov., S. nitidus, and S. semitaeniatus by having a shorter head (head length 15.8% SVL versus 15.9–21.6% SVL in those other species). From S. magnacruzae sp. nov., S. martinae sp. nov. and S. spilonotus, it is distinguished by having wider dark dorsolateral stripes (dorsolateral stripe width 2.12% SVL versus 1.16–2.09% SVL in those other species). It is separated from S. lineolatus by having two dark dorsolateral stripes and two dark lateral stripes (versus 10 dark stripes in S. lineolatus). It differs from S. nitidus by having a shorter toe-IV (toe-IV length 9.01% SVL versus 9.45–12.7% SVL in S. nitidus). From S. semitaeniatus, it is separated by having a shorter head (head length 15.8% SVL versus 15.8– 19.4% SVL in S. semitaeniatus). Besides those non-overlapping differences, there are frequency differences separating Spondylurus haitiae sp. nov. from other species. From S. anegadae sp. nov. it differs by having a smaller ear (ear length 1.19% SVL versus 1.23–2.10% in 88% of specimens belonging to S. anegadae sp. nov.). It differs from S. caicosae sp. nov. by having a higher number of dorsals + ventrals (dorsals + ventrals 129–131 versus 113–127 in 95% of specimens belonging to S. caicosae sp. nov.) and by having a smaller ear (ear length 1.19% SVL versus 1.26–2.18% SVL in 92% of specimens belonging to S. caicosae sp. nov.). Besides the three diagnostic characters noted above, which separate S. haitiae sp. nov. from S. nitidus (the taxon with which it has been confused), it also has a greater number of dorsals + ventrals: 129–131 versus 117–127 in 12 specimens of S. nitidus (except for one specimen with 129) [HEDGES & CONN 2012]. |
| Comment | Conservation: Critically Endangered and possibly extinct (CR A2ace). Synonymy: after HEDGES & CONN 2012. The holotype was originally a syntype of Mabuia nitida Garman. Stejneger (1904) placed that species in the synonymy of Mabuya sloanii. Schmidt (1928) retained "Mabuya nitida" in the synonymy of M. sloanii but noticed that this syntype from Hispaniola differed from the Puerto Rican syntypes (and other specimens from Puerto Rico) sufficiently that he restricted the name "Mabuya nitida" to Puerto Rico, should the species ever be considered valid (as it is by HEDGES & CONN 2012). Similar species: Mabuya hispaniolae. See also synonymy. Abundance: only known from its original description (Meiri et al. 2017). |
| Etymology | The species name (haitiae) is a feminine genitive singular noun derived from the Amerindian (Taino) name for the entire island of Hispaniola, transliterated in English as "Haiti" or "Hayti," meaning "high mountains." |
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