Spondylurus spilonotus (WIEGMANN, 1837)
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Spondylurus spilonotus
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Mabuyinae (Mabuyini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Greater Virgin Islands Skink |
| Synonym | Euprepes spilonotus WIEGMANN 1837: 135 Euprepes spilonotus — PETERS, 1864: 50 Eupr[epes] spilonotus — PETERS, 1871: 400 Euprepes (Mabuia) spilonotus — PETERS, 1876: 708 (part) Euprepes spilonotus — GUNDLACH, 1881: 311 (part). Mabuia sloanii — BOULENGER, 1887: 193 (part) M[abuya] spilonotus — STEJNEGER, 1904: 609–10 Mabuya sloanii — BARBOUR, 1914: 355 (part) Mabuya spilonota — BARBOUR, 1914: 355 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 sp. — GRANT, 1937: 512 (part) Mabuya spilonotus — GRANT, 1940: 111 Mabuya spilonotus — MURRAY, 1949: 128 Mabuya spilonota — COCHRAN, 1961: 126 Mabuya spilonota — HORTON, 1973: 85 Mabuya mabouya sloanei — SCHWARTZ & THOMAS, 1975: 141 (part) Mabuya mabouya sloanei — MACLEAN et al., 1977: 30 (part) Mabuya mabouya sloanei — MACLEAN et al., 1977: 32 (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 — HENDERSON & POWELL, 2009: 293 (part) Spondylurus spilonotus — HEDGES & CONN 2012: 207 |
| Distribution | US Virgin Islands (St. John, St. Thomas) Type locality: not given; probably St. Thomas or St. John (see HEDGES & CONN 2012 for a discussion). |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Lectotype: ZMB 1240; Stejneger 1904 listed it incorrectly as ZMB 3785 and Dunn (1936) as “ZMB 3758", an error copied by several other authors. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Spondylurus spilonotus is characterized by (1) maximum SVL in males, 91.7 mm; (2) maximum SVL in females, 106.5 mm; (3) snout width, 2.74–3.05% SVL; (4) head length, 15.4–18.5% SVL; (5) head width, 12.0–13.9% SVL; (6) ear length, 1.76–2.05% SVL; (7) toe-IV length, 7.30–10.5% SVL; (8) prefrontals, two; (9) supraoculars, four; (10) supraciliaries, four; (11) frontoparietals, two; (12) supralabial below the eye, six; (13) nuchal rows, two (67%), three (33%); (14) dorsals, 62–64; (15) ventrals, 63–68; (16) dorsals + ventrals, 125–132; (17) midbody scale rows, 34; (18) finger-IV lamellae, 13–15; (19) toe-IV lamellae, 16–18; (20) finger-IV + toe-IV lamellae, 29–33; (21) supranasal contact, N; (22) prefrontal contact, N; (23) supraocular-1/frontal contact, Y (17%), N (83%); (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). |
| Comment | Synonymy: HEDGES & CONN 2012 Distribution: erroneously reported from Jamaica by several authors, e.g. Grant 1940: 111. Conservation: Critically Endangered and possibly extinct (CR A2ace) (Adkins-Giese et al. 2014). Abundance: Rare. This is one of the species called 'lost' and 'rediscovered' by Lindken et al. 2024. |
| Etymology | Not provided in the original description. However, the species name (spilonotus) is a Latinized noun in the nominative singular derived from the Greek nouns spilos (spot, stain) and notos (the back), referring to the distinctly spotted dorsal pattern of this species. When combined with Mabuya (feminine) instead of Euprepes or Spondylurus (masculine), some authors (Barbour 1914; Cochran 1961; Horton 1973) converted the gender of the species name to feminine, whereas others retained it as masculine. As it is a noun and not an adjective, it retains the original (masculine) spelling, regardless of the gender of the genus [HEDGES & CONN 2012]. |
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