Trachylepis adamastor CERIACO, 2015

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Higher Taxa	Scincidae, Mabuyinae (Mabuyini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies
Common Names	Portuguese: Lagartixa-adamastor English: Adamastor Skink
Synonym	Trachylepis adamastor CERIACO 2015 Lygodactylus [sic!] maculilabris — HENRIQUES 1917: 81 Mabuia maculilabris — BOCAGE 1903: 53 Mabuia maculilabris — BOULENGER 1906: 205 Mabuya maculilabris — MANAÇAS 1958: 184 Mabuya maculilabris — MANAÇAS 1973: 223 Mabuya maculilabris — SCHÄTTI & LOUMONG 1992: 29 Mabuya maculilabris — HOFER 2002: 82 Trachylepis cf. maculilabris–Príncipe — CERÍACO 2015: 512 Trachylepis principensis CERÍACO, MARQUES & BAUER 2016 Trachylepis adamastor — CERÍACO et al. 2023
Distribution	Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe (Tinhosa Grande Islet) Type locality: "Pedras Tinhosas" (N: -1.34135556, E: - 7.29151389; WGS-84), Republic of São Tomé e Príncipe principensis: Príncipe Island; Type locality: on a tree near Santo Cristo (N: 1.63822, E : 7.43317; WGS-84), Príncipe Island, Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe
Reproduction
Types	Holotype: IICT no2-1970, Adult female collected by an unknown collector in 21th March 1970 (Fig. 2). Paratypes. Seven specimens: IICT no1-1970, Adult male collected in the same locality of the holotype, also by an unknown collector in 1970, IICT no1-1971, adult male, IICT no2-1971, adult female, IICT no3-1971, adult female, IICT no4-1971, adult female, IICT no5-1971, adult female, and IICT no6-1971, both from the same locality of the holotype and collected by an unknown collector in 1971. Holotype: MB = MUHNAC 03-000957, adult male collected by Luis M.P. Ceríaco, Mariana Marques and Pedro Ceríaco on 11 February 2015 (Figs 6). Paratypes. All specimens from the Island of Príncipe, Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe. Twelve specimens: MB03-000909, adult male collected in Roça Pincaté (N: 1.63205, E: 7.39869; WGS-84) by Luis Ceríaco and Mariana Marques on 20 March 2013; MB03-000951 adult female collected in Roça Porto Real (N: 1.624324, E: 7.405327; WGS-84), by Ostelino da Silva on 1 March 2014; MB03-000955, adult female, MB03-000956, collected in the same locality, same date and by the same collectors as the holotype; MB03-000979, adult female collected in Torre de Comunicação Sundy (N: 1.00000, E: 7.37924; WGS-84), by Hélio Vicente on 12 February 2015; CAS 219172, adult female collected south of Roça Sundy (N: 1.66239, E: 7.38550; WGS-84) by R.C. Drewes and R.E. Stoelting on 21 April 2001; CAS 219188, adult male, CAS 219189, adult female, CAS 219190, adult female, all collected in Nova Estrela (N: 1.62050, E: 7.43036; WGS-84) by R.C. Drewes and R.E. Stoelting on 21 April 2001; CAS 219358, adult male, CAS 219361, adult female, both collected in Praia Abade (N: 1.63075, E: 7.45600; WGS-84) by R. E. Stoelting on 16 May 2001; CAS 238898, adult female collected at Bom Bom resort (N: 1.69817, E: 7.40267; WGS-84) by K. Monson on 3 May 2008 [principensis]
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: A large and robust species of Trachylepis identified to the genus by the following combination of characters: four-limbed lizard, body covered with relatively large scales, dorsal and ventral scales polished, dorsal and ventral scales not highly differentiated (i.e. no great variation in size or structure), nostril well separated from the rostral shield, eyelids fully moveable and capable of closing the eye, lower eyelid with a large transparent disc, dorsal scales keeled, limbs pentadactyl and well developed, femoral pores absent. The new species can be easily distinguished from all other Trachylepis species by the following combination of characters: (1) large and robust body size, up to at least 112.0 mm SVL; (2) color pattern consisting of dark-brown dorsal coloration, with subtle black and white speckles, venter grayish; (3) MSR 31–34, SAD 49–54, SAV 63–66; (4) KDS 5 or 6; (5) scales on sole of feet and hands smooth; (6) one pretemporal scale; (7) very small ear opening.
Comment	Abundance: only known from its original description (Meiri et al. 2017). Synonymy: Trachylepis principensis CERÍACO et al. 2016 was synonymized with T. adamastor by CERÍACO et al. 2020.
Etymology	The specific epithet 'adamastor' refers to the mythical giant inhabiting a rock "in the end of the sea" present in the Luis de Camões famous odyssey 'Os Lusíadas', and is applied here as a substantive in apposition. The specific epithet 'principensis' refers to the Island of Príncipe of the Republic of São Tomé & Príncipe, to which it is endemic, and is applied here as a substantive. We propose the English name of "Príncipe Skink" and the Portuguese name "Lagartixa do Príncipe".
References	Bocage, Barboza du 1903. Contribution a la Faune des quatre iles du Golfe de Guinée. J. Sci. math. phys. nat. Lisboa 7 (2): 25-59 Boulenger, G.A. 1906. Report on the reptiles collected by the late L. Fea in West Africa. Ann. Mus. civ. Stor. Nat. Genova (3) 2: 196-216 - get paper here Ceríaco LMP, Parrinha D, Marques MP 2021. Saving collections: taxonomic revision of the herpetological collection of the Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical, Lisbon (Portugal) with a protocol to rescue abandoned collections. ZooKeys 1052: 85-156 - get paper here Ceríaco, L. M. P., Marques, M. P., de Sousa, A. C. A., Veríssimo, J., Beja, P., & Ferreira, S. 2023. Illustrated keys and a DNA barcode reference library of the amphibians and terrestrial reptiles (Amphibia, Reptilia) of São Tomé and Príncipe (Gulf of Guinea, West Africa). ZooKeys, 1168, 41-75 Ceriaco, Luis M. P. 2015. Lost in the middle of the sea, found in the back of the shelf: A new giant species of Trachylepis (Squamata: Scincidae) from Tinhosa Grande islet, Gulf of Guinea. Zootaxa 3973 (3): 511–527 - get paper here CERÍACO, LUIS M. P.; MARIANA P. MARQUES, AARON M. BAUER 2016. A review of the genus Trachylepis (Sauria: Scincidae) from the Gulf of Guinea, with descriptions of two new species in the Trachylepis maculilabris (Gray, 1845) species complex. Zootaxa 4109 (3): 284–314 - get paper here Ceríaco, Luis MP; Justin Bernstein , Ana C Sousa , Mariana P Marques , Aaron M Bauer & Sietze J Norder 2020. The reptiles of Tinhosa Grande islet (Gulf of Guinea): A taxonomic update and the role of Quaternary sea level fluctuations in their diversification,. African Journal of Herpetology, 69:2, 200-216 Hofer, D. 2002. The São Tomé and Principé Handbook. D. Hofer Verlag, Bern, 152 pp. Manacas, S. 1958. Anfíbios e Répteis das ilhas de São Tomé e do Príncipe e do Ilhéo das Rolas. Conferencia Intern. dos Africanistas Ocidentais, Comunicacoes Zool. e Biol. Animal, 6. Sess., 4: 179-192. Manaças, S. 1973. Alguns dos anfíbios e répteis da província de S. Tomé e Príncipe. In: Livro de Homenagem ao Prof. Fernando Frade. Junta Investigação do Ultramar, Lisboa, pp. 219–230 Meiri, Shai; Aaron M. Bauer, Allen Allison, Fernando Castro-Herrera, Laurent Chirio, Guarino Colli, Indraneil Das, Tiffany M. Doan, Frank Glaw, Lee L. Grismer, Marinus Hoogmoed, Fred Kraus, Matthew LeBreton, Danny Meirte, Zoltán T. Nagy, Cristiano d 2017. Extinct, obscure or imaginary: the lizard species with the smallest ranges. Diversity and Distributions - get paper here Pollo, César J. 2017. Guide of Amphibians and Reptiles of São Tomé and Príncipe. Smashwords / César J. Pollo, 156 pp. - get paper here Schatti, B., & Loumont, C. 1992. [A contribution to the herpetofauna of Sao Tome (Gulf of Guinea) (Amphibia & Reptilia)]. Zool. Abhandl. Staatl. Mus. für Tierkunde, Dresden, 47: 23-36 SOUSA, ANA CAROLINA A.; MARIANA PIMENTEL MARQUES & LUIS M.P. CERÍACO. 2022. Population size and diet of the Adamastor skink, Trachylepis adamastor Ceríaco, 2015 (Squamata: Scincidae), on Tinhosa Grande Islet, São Tomé and Príncipe, Gulf of Guinea. Herpetology Notes 15: 553–557. - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information Google images

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