Ablepharus capitaneus OUBOTER, 1986

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Higher Taxa	Scincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Large ground skink
Synonym	Scincella capitanea OUBOTER 1986: 31 Scincella capitanea — DAS 1996: 48 Asymblepharus capitaneus — EREMCHENKO et al. 1998 Asymblepharus (Himalablepharus) capitaneus — EREMCHENKO 2003 Scincella capitanea — LINKEM, DIESMOS & BROWN 2011 Ablepharus capitaneus — BRAGIN et al. 2025
Distribution	Nepal Type locality: 3 km W . of Dhampus, 1850 m elevation, Annapurna region, Central Nepal.
Reproduction	oviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022)
Types	Holotype: RMNH 20464, 29-V-1981, SH 741, leg. P.E. Ouboter & L.M.R. Nanhoe.
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: A very large and robust Scincella, with a maximum snout-vent length of 78.5mm (x = 68.2 ± 10.0mm) and well-developed limbs. Head small; neck wider than the head. Thirty to 32 scales around midbody. Ciliars not thickened. Palpebral disc rather small. Ear very small, slit-shaped, without projecting lobules on the anterior margin (Ouboter 1986: 31). Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 566 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details.
Comment
References	Baral R., Kadariya R. 2025. Herpetofauna of the Annapurna Conservation Area. Snake Conservation Society Nepal and National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), Nepal. 84 pp - get paper here Bragin, A. M., Decemson, H., Lalremsanga, H. T., Mirza, Z. A., & Poyarkov, N. A. 2025. A new species of Himalayan skink of the genus Ablepharus (Squamata: Scincidae). SALAMANDRA, 61(4), 373-394 Cogălniceanu, D., Băncilă, R.I., Ghira, I.V. et al. 2025. Documenting six decades of change in herpetofauna occurrence patterns in a mountain ecosystem. Sci Rep 15, 41894 (2025) - get paper here Eremchenko, V. K 2003. Generic and specific redefinition and redescription of the North-Vietnam skink (Scincella melanosticta (Boulenger, 1887). Izvestiya Vuzov (= Proceedings of Universitities and Institutes), Bishkek, (1-2): 20-28 Eremchenko, V.; Helfenberger,N.; K. B. Shah & A. M. Panfilov 1998. Two new species of skinks (Scincidae: Ligosominae [sic]) from Nepal [in Russian]. News nat. Acad. Sci. Kirgiz Republik, Bishkek (4): 41-45 Kästle , W., Rai, K. & Schleich, H.H. 2013. FIELD GUIDE to Amphibians and Reptiles of Nepal. ARCO-Nepal e.V., 625 pp. - get paper here Linkem, Charles W.; Arvin C. Diesmos, Rafe M. Brown 2011. Molecular systematics of the Philippine forest skinks (Squamata: Scincidae: Sphenomorphus): testing morphological hypotheses of interspecific relationships. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 163: 1217–1243 - get paper here Nanhoe, L.M.R., & Ouboter, P.E. 1987. The distribution of reptiles and amphibians in the Annapurna-Dhaulagiri region (Nepal). Zoologische Verhandelingen (240): 1-105 - get paper here Ouboter P E 1986. A revision of the genus Scincella (Reptilia: Sauria: Scincidae) of Asia, with some notes on its evolution. Zoologische Verhandelingen (229): 1-66 - get paper here Zimin, A., Zimin, S. V., Shine, R., Avila, L., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., Barki, G., de Oliveira Caetano, G. H., Castro Herrera, F., Chapple, D. G., Chirio, L., Colli, G. R., Doan, T. M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L. L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton 2022. A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–16 - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List Google images

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