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Trachylepis mlanjensis (LOVERIDGE, 1953)

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Mabuyinae (Mabuyini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Mulanje Skink 
SynonymMabuya bocagii mlanjensis LOVERIDGE 1953: 207
Mabuya gruetzneri mlanjensis — STEVENS 1974: 14
Mabuya striata punctatissimus — BROADLEY 1977: 64 (part.) (not A. SMITH)
Mabuya striata punctatissima — PATTERSON 1990: 232 (not A. SMITH)
Mabuya mlanjensis — BROADLEY 2000: 103
Euprepis mlanjensis — MAUSFELD et al. 2002
Trachylepis mlanjensis — BAUER 2003
Trachylepis mlanjensis — PIETERSEN et al. 2021 
DistributionS Malawai (Mulanje Mountain; Dedza Mountain on the western side of the rift valley).

Type locality: Lichenya Plateau, 6000 feet, Mlanje Mountain, Nyasaland [= Mulanje Mountain, Malawi].  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: MCZ R-50692 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: From inadequately-known bocagii of Angola, with a Congulu specimen of which I have been able to compare it through the courtesy of Dr. H. W. Parker, the differences are minor and may prove of average importance only. M. b. mlanjensis differs from b. bocagit in the centre of the nostril not being anterior to the vertical of the suture between the rostral and first labial, in its anterior loreal usually not being in contact with the first labial, and in the probability that the number of its midbody scale-rows (36-38) average lower than those of bocagi (36-40) which are so frequently 40; the limbs of mlanjensis apparently tend to be shorter than those of Angolan bocagii. In mlanjensis the vertebral line, when present, is noticeably narrower than in the Congulu bocagii. From v. varia, which is the common skink on Mlanje, b. mlanjensis may be distinguished by the absence of a white lateral line, and the presence of more numerous (36-38, instead of 30-34) scales around midbody, besides larger size. In addition there are average differences such as the number of labials anterior to the subocular (5-6 in mlan jensis, 4-5 in varia). The discovery of this montane form makes it probable that M. brauni Tornier, from the Ukinga Mountains at the north end of Lake Nyasa and about 500 miles north of Mlanje, is not a race of varia as I once (1933h, pp. 317-318) suggested, but a race of bocagii Boulenger, of which mlanjensis is the southeastern representative. (Loveridge 1953: 207)


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CommentSympatric with M. striata at the foot of Mulanje Mountain.

Synonymy: Removed from synonymy with M. striata punctatissima by BROADLEY 2000. Weinell et al. 2019 found that Trachylepis mlanjensis nests within T. striata 
EtymologyNamed after the type locality. 
References
  • Broadley, D. G. 1977. A review of the Mabuya striata complex in South-East Africa (Sauria: Scincidae). Occ. Pap. Nat. Mus. and Mon. Rhodesia 6B (2): 45-79
  • Broadley, D.G. 2000. A review of the genus Mabuya in southeastern Africa (Sauria: Scincidae). African Journal of Herpetology, 49 (2): 87-110 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1953. Zoological Results of a fifth expedition to East Africa. III. Reptiles from Nyasaland and Tete. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 110 (3): 142-322. - get paper here
  • Patterson, J.W. 1990. Female reproductive cycles in two subspecies of the tropical lizard Mabuya striata. Oecologia 84: 232-237 - get paper here
  • Pietersen, Darren, Verburgt, Luke & Davies, John 2021. Snakes and other reptiles of Zambia and Malawi. Struik Nature / Penguin Random House South Africa, 376 pp., ISBN 9781775847373
  • Stevens, R.A. 1974. An annotated check list of the amphibians and reptiles known to occur in south-eastern Malawi. Arnoldia (Rhodesia) 6 (30) 22 pp.
  • Weinell, J. L., Branch, W. R., Colston, T. J., Jackman, T. R., Kuhn, A., Conradie, W., & Bauer, A. M. 2019. A species-level phylogeny of Trachylepis (Scincidae: Mabuyinae) provides insight into their reproductive mode evolution. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution - get paper here
 
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