Trachylepis cristinae SINDACO, METALLINOU, PUPIN, FASOLA & CARRANZA, 2012
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Trachylepis cristinae
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Mabuyinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | Abd Al Kuri Skink |
| Synonym | Trachylepis cristinae SINDACO, METALLINOU, PUPIN, FASOLA & CARRANZA 2012 Mabuya socotrana – STEINDACHNER 1903: 13 (partim) Mabuya soqotranus – WRANIK 1998: table 1 (partim) Mabuya socotrana – WRANIK 1998a: 150 (partim) Mabuya socotrana – WRANIK 1998b: 171 (partim) Mabuya socotrana – SCHÄTTI & DESVOIGNES 1999: 121 (partim) |
| Distribution | Yemen (Socotra: Abd Al Kuri Island) Type locality: YEMEN, Abd Al Kuri Island, Khaysat Salih village env. at about 12°11’N–52°14’E, 36 m elevation. Map legend:  - Type locality. |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype: MCCI R1585, Male, 1.IV.2010, Cristina Grieco, Fabio Pupin, Elisa Riservato and Roberto Sindaco leg.. Paratype. Female, YEMEN, Abd Al Kuri Island, Oskar Simony leg. Labelled: ‘Mabuia socotrana (Pet.) Boul⁄ Abd - el - Kuri. 3f. Su ̈dar. Exp.⁄1898 – 22⁄1 899 – Simony’ [= Mabuia socotrana (Peters) Boulenger ⁄Abd el-Kuri Island. 3rd South-Arabian Expedition ⁄ 1898– 22.I.1899 – Oskar Simony leg.]. (NMW 9396). |
| Comment | Diagnosis. A member of the Trachylepis brevicollis complex characterized by high number of scale rows at midtrunk (38), palmar and tarsal scales never pointed nor spinose, subdigital lamellae smooth or only weakly keeled; color characteristic (see description); SVL of adults up to 114 mm. Trachylepis socotrana, the only other Trachylepis of the Socotra Archipelago, is easily distinguishable from T. cristinae by its smaller size (SVL up to 97 mm, but usually less in adult individuals, with a mean of 84.4 ± 7.6; N = 20; Appendix S1 and unpublished field data), by having prefrontals separated or in short contact (largely in contact in T. cristinae), frontal scale entering the supraoculars (I)-II-III (only the supraoculars I and II in T. cristinae), internasal (frontonasal) scale pointed posteriorly (truncated posteriorly); frontoparietals in contact with the supraocu- lars III and IV [in contact with supraoculars II-III-(IV) in T. cristinae] (Fig. 2); most dorsal scales with 3–5 keels (2 or 3 in T. cristinae), 30–34 scales around midtrunk (data from Appendix S2 and from Boulenger 1903: 85) (38 in T. cristinae). Moreover, T. socotrana has a completely different color pattern, usually uniformly brownish-grey; some adults have orange head, and some specimens bear scattered dark spots on the throat. Some specimens from Darsa Island have a striped pattern of five longitudinal blackish stripes (one vertebral, two dorsolateral and two lateral), alterna- ting with two beige broader paravertebral ones and two evident withish dorsolateral ones (MCCI-R1583). |
| Etymology | The species epithet is a genitive Latin noun to honour Cristina Grieco, who found the holotype in Abd Al Kuri. |
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