Trachylepis raymondlaurenti MARQUES, CERÍACO, BANDEIRA, PAUWELS & BAUER, 2019
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Trachylepis raymondlaurenti
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Mabuyinae (Mabuyini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Laurent’s Long Tailed Skink P: Lagartixa de Cauda Longa de Laurent F: Scinque à longue queue de Laurent |
| Synonym | Trachylepis raymondlaurenti MARQUES, CERÍACO, BANDEIRA, PAUWELS & BAUER 2019: 59 Mabuya megalura — DE WITTE 1953: 107 Mabuya megalura subsp. — LAURENT 1964: 74 Trachylepis megalura — BROADLEY & COTTERILL 2004: 42 [partim] Trachylepis cf. megalura — CERÍACO et al. 2016: 71 Trachylepis cf. megalura — CERÍACO et al. 2018: 423 Trachylepis cf. megalura — MARQUES et al. 2018: 264 Trachylepis raymondlaurenti — CERIACO et al. 2024: 104 |
| Distribution | N Angola (Malanje, Lunda-Norte), SE Democratic Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), possibly N Zambia Type locality: Giant Sable Sanctuary of Cangandala National Park (-9.84606° N, 16.7223° E, WGS-84; elevation 1101 m above sea level), Malanje Province, Angola. |
| Reproduction | viviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) |
| Types | Holotype. CAS 258401, adult female collected by Mariana Marques, Luis Ceríaco, Suzana Bandeira, Edward Stanley and Jens Vindum on 17 September 2015. Paratypes. MD 5309, adult female collected in Alto Cuílo (-10.01667° N, 19.55° E, WGS-84; elevation 1101 m), Lunda Sul Province, Angola, by a local in June 1954; MCZ R-67627, adult female with the same collection data as the former; RBINS 2691 (formerly RBINS 6998), adult female collected in Lusinga (-8.933333° N, 27.2° E, WGS-84; elevation 1810 m), Upemba National Park, DRC, during the Mission G.-F. de Witte on 16 March 1947; RBINS 2692 (formerly RBINS 6999), adult male with locality data as for the former but collected on 9–17 April 1947; RBINS 2693 (formerly RBINS 7000), adult male with locality data as for RBINS 2691 but collected on 21 June–21 July 1947; RBINS 2694 (formerly RBINS 7001), adult male with the same locality data as for RBINS 2691 but collected in December 1947; RBINS 2695 (formerly RBINS 7002), adult female with the same locality data as for RBINS 2691 but collected in January 1948. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Trachylepis raymondlaurenti sp. nov. is readily distinguished from all other congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) slender body of medium size, SVL up to 79.3 mm; (2) long-tailed, up to 215.8 mm, greater than twice body length; (3) well-defined neck constriction; (4) color homogeneously greyish- brown dorsally, with some dark speckles on sides of tail; ventral surface with some scattered dark speckles near the flanks and under the tail; supralabials and infralabials dotted with white; no distinct longitudinal or transverse dorsal bands; (5) MSR 24–28, SAD 48–53, SAV 50–58; (6) KDS 0–3; (7) scales on palms of hands and soles of feet smooth; (8) supranasals separated; and (9) prefrontals separated. Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 1898 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Distribution: see map in Ceriaco et al. 2024: 106 (Fig. 85). |
| Etymology | The species is named after Raymond F. Laurent (1917–2005), Belgian herpetologist who specialized in African amphibians and reptiles and contributed significantly to current knowledge of the Angolan and Congolese herpetofaunas. |
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