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. |
| 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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