Typhlacontias punctatissimus BOCAGE, 1873
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Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
Subspecies | Typhlacontias punctatissimus punctatissimus BOCAGE 1873 Typhlacontias punctatissimus bogerti LAURENT 1964 Typhlacontias punctatissimus brainei HAACKE 1997 |
Common Names | E: Speckled Western Burrowing Skink, Dotted Blind Dart Skink bogerti: Bogert’s Western Burrowing Skink |
Synonym | Typhlacontias punctatissimus BOCAGE 1873: 213 Typhlacontias punctatissimus — ANDERSSON 1916 Typhlacontias punctatissimus — GREER 1970 Typhlacontias punctatissimus punctatissimus — HAACKE 1997 Typhlacontias punctatissimus — WHITING et al. 2003 Typhlacontias punctatissimus punctatissimus — MARQUES et al. 2018 Typhlacontias punctatissimus bogerti LAURENT 1964 Typhlacontias bogerti LAURENT 1964 Typhlacontias punctatissimus bogerti — HAACKE 1997 Typhlacontias punctatissimus bogerti — MARQUES et al. 2018 Typhlacontias punctatissimus bogerti — LOBÓN-ROVIRA et al. 2022 Typhlacontias punctatissimus brainei HAACKE 1997 Typhlacontias punctatissimus brainei — BÖHME 2014: 157 |
Distribution | S Angola, NW Namibia (from NW Koakoveld), SW Angola bogerti: SW Angola; Type locality: “35 km S of Moçamedes (= Namibé)”, Angola. brainei: Namibia; Type locality: Khumib River 25 km from the coast, Skeleton Coast Park, Opuwo District, Namibia, 18°44'S 12°36'E (1812Da), elevation up to 600 m. Type locality: Rio Curoca mouth, Moçamedes district, Angola |
Reproduction | ovovivparous |
Types | Syntypes: MB (Museu Bocage) (2 specimens) catalogue numbers unknown (collector J.A. d’Anchieta), destroyed by fire 18 March 1978 (Museo de Bocage, Lisbon) Types: MD (Dundo Museum, Angola [bogerti] Holotype: DNMNH (= TM) 68443, collected by W. D. Haacke, 11. 4. 1989; Paratypes in ZFMK, DNMNH (= TM) and NMNW (formerly SMWN) [brainei] |
Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus): Skull characters: Palatine bones only slightly longer than wide, separated medially; palatal rami of pterygoids expanded laterally, but not meeting medially, and emarginated posteriorly (gracilis) or not (brevipes and ngamiensis); pterygoid teeth absent (Fig. 6 in GREER 1970). Postorbital and jugal bones lacking; supratcmporal arch weak and fenestra obliterated by the apposition of the bones in the supratemporal arch with the parietal; fixe to six maxillary teeth. External characters: Interparietal large, touching supraoculars; three median, transversely enlarged head scales between the rostral and interparietal instead of a pair of supranasals and two median, transversely enlarged head scales; no external ear opening; limbless except for T. brevipes, which has a rudimentary hind leg [from GREER 1970]. A more recent diagnosis is provided by HAACKE 1997: 140. |
Comment | Type species: Typhlacontias punctatissimus BOCAGE 1873 is the type species of the genus Typhlacontias BOCAGE 1873. Skull morphology: for a comparison of African burrowing skinks see Stepanova & Bauer 2021. Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. |
Etymology | Named after its speckled colour pattern, from Latin punctum, puncti, point; dot/spot. |
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