You are here » home › advanced search › search results › Dopasia harti

Dopasia harti (BOULENGER, 1899)

iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Dopasia harti?

Add your own observation of
Dopasia harti »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaAnguidae (Anguinae), Diploglossa, Anguimorpha, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Hart's Glass Lizard
Chinese: 脆蛇蜥 
SynonymOphisaurus harti BOULENGER 1899: 160
Ophisaurus harti — WERNER 1910: 27
Ophisaurus harti — SMITH 1935: 394
Ophisaurus harti — LIU YU 1970
Ophisaurus harti — INGER et al. 1990: 17
Ophisaurus harti — LIN et al. 2003
Ophisaurus harti — PIANKA & VITT 2003: 232
Ophisaurus harti — BOBROV & SEMENOV 2008
Dopasia harti — CONRAD et al. 2011
Dopasia harti — NGUYEN et al. 2011
Dopasia harti — WANG et al. 2022
Dopasia harti — STUART et al. in WCS 2024
Dopasia harti — LIN et al. 2026 
DistributionN Vietnam (Son La etc.), Laos, S China (Hunan, Yunnan etc.)

Type locality: Kuatun (= Guadun), northwestern Fokien (=Fujian) Prov., China; elevation: 3,000 to 4,000 feet or more.

Type locality: Bao Lake, upper Tonkin [= northern Vietnam; MOCQUARD 1905]  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: BMNH 1946.8.3.81 (designated by Brygoo 1987); syntypes: BMNH 1946.8.3.80–1946.8.3.81, BMNH 99.4.24.6–99.4.24.7 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Maximum SVL 270 mm; ear opening equal or smaller than nostril; nasal separated from frontonasal by 2 scales; dorsal scales strongly keeled; longitudinal scale rows between lateral folds 16–18 (rarely 14); scales along lateral fold 88–99; vertebrae from atlas to remnants of hind leg bones 50–54; dark dorsolateral stripe present, from one head-length behind ear opening to tail tip, indistinct anteriorly, progressively broader and more distinct posteriorly; ventrolateral stripe absent; lateral sides of young dark brown with saw-tooth pigmentation only present on dorsolateral region of neck and shoulder (Brygoo 1987; Lin et al. 2003; Nguyen et al. 2011).


Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data. However, these details, e.g. detailed descriptions (about about .81 pages) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us if you need any of this material. 
CommentColor plate 26H in Zhao & Adler 1993.

Synonymy: O. formosensis has been synonymized with O. harti by LIN et al. (2003) although both may be considered as subspecies of harti: harti has blue dorsal markings, and formosensis has uniform dorsal coloration. However, in the molecular stufy of Lin et al., formosensis nested within harti. Ophisaurus ludovici MOCQUARD 1905 has been removed from the synonymy of D. harti by BRYGOO 1987 and NGUYEN et al. 2011. Lin et al. 2026 consider D. formosensis as a “distinct evolutionary lineage, pending a formal systematic revision of the genus”. Lin et al. (2026) found that hainanensis is more closely related to harti, so if these two species are recognized, formosensis needs to be recognized as well in order to prevent a paraphyly.

Limb morphology: Limbless.

Distribution: Bain and Nguyen (2004) reported D. harti from Ha Giang, Vietnam (IEBR 890), however, that specimen was re-identified as D. gracilis by Nguyen et al. 2011. Records of D. harti from Tam Dao (Vinh Phuc Province) should be verified as they may be D. hainanensis.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after Sir Robert Hart, First Baronet (1835-1911), a British consular and customs official in China who also is the central figure in Lloyd Lofthouse's historieal novel “My Splendid Concubine”. 
References
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Bobrov V.V., Semenov D.V. 2008. Lizards of Vietnam [in Russian]. Moscow, 236 pp.
  • Bobrov, V. V. 1995. Checklist and bibliography of lizards of Vietnam. Smithsonian Herp. Inf. Serv. (105): - get paper here
  • Boulenger, GEORGE A. 1899. On a collection of reptiles and batrachians made by Mr. J. D. La Touche in N.W. Fokien, China. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1899: 159-172 - get paper here
  • Brygoo, E. R. 1988. Les Ophisaurus (Sauria: Anguidae) d’Asie orientale. Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat., Paris, ser. 4, 9 ["1987"]: 727-752
  • Conrad, Jack L.; Jennifer C. Ast, Shaena Montanari and Mark A. Norell 2011. A combined evidence phylogenetic analysis of Anguimorpha (Reptilia: Squamata). Cladistics 27 (3): 230–277 - get paper here
  • Dinh T, Nishikawa K, Luu VQ, Nguyen H, Numata S 2026. New records and an updated herpetofaunal list from Ba Vi National Park, Vietnam. Biodiversity Data Journal 14: e178266 - get paper here
  • GAO, ZHIWEI; TIANYU QIAN, JIANPING JIANG, DEJIA HOU, XUEJIAN DENG & DAODE YANG. 2022. Species diversity and distribution of amphibians and reptiles in Hunan Province, China. Biodiversity Science 30 (2): 21290, 1–15 - get paper here
  • Inger R F; Zhao E; Bradley Shaffer H; Guanfu Wu 1990. Report on a collection of amphibians and reptiles from Sichuan, China. Fieldiana: Zoology (No. 58) : i-iii, 1-24 - get paper here
  • Jablonski, Daniel; Martina Lawson 2020. Remarks on coloration and shedding in a Hart’s Glass Lizard, Dopasia harti (Anguidae). IRCF Reptiles & Amphibians 27 (3): 452-453 - get paper here
  • Kishida, KYUKICHI 1930. Notes on a Formosan lizard of the family Anguidae. Lansania, Tokyo, 2 (18): 124-128
  • Langner, Ch. 2019. Ich komme Dir auf die Schliche! Verkanntes Schleichenvolk – die interessanten Echsen der Familie Anguidae. Reptilia (Münster) 24 (136): 16-27 - get paper here
  • Lawson, M., Su, Y. H., Lin, S. M., & Jablonski, D. 2025. First detailed description of male-male combat in the genus Dopasia Gray, 1875 (Reptilia: Anguidae). acta ethologica, 29(1), 3 - get paper here
  • Lin, Si-Min; Wen-Shiang Chang; Szu-Lung Chen; Gaus Shang and Kuang-Yang Lue 2003. Taxonomic Status of the Legless Lizard Ophisaurus (Squamata: Anguidae )in Taiwan: Molecular Data, Morphology, and Literature Review. Zoological Studies 42 (3): 411-419
  • Liu-Yu, M.C. 1970. Studies on Taiwan lizards. Biol. Bull. Taiwan Normal Univ. 5: 51-93
  • Mocquard, F. 1905. Diagnoses de quelques espèces nouvelles de Reptiles. Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat., Paris, 11:76-79 - get paper here
  • Nguyen, S.V., Ho, C.T. and Nguyen, T.Q. 2009. Herpetofauna of Vietnam. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 768 pp.
  • Nguyen, Truong Quang; Anh Van Pham, Hoang Van Tu, Tan Van Nguyen, Thomas Ziegler 2018. New records and an updated list of lizards from Son La Province, Vietnam. Herpetology Notes 11: 209-216 - get paper here
  • NGUYEN, TRUONG QUANG; WOLFGANG BÖHME, TAO THIEN NGUYEN, QUYET KHAC LE, KRISTIAN ROBERT PAHL, TANJA HAUS & THOMAS ZIEGLER 2011. Review of the genus Dopasia Gray, 1853 (Squamata: Anguidae) in the Indochina subregion. Zootaxa 2894: 58–68 - get paper here
  • Pianka, E.R. & Vitt, L.J. 2003. Lizards - Windows to the Evolution of Diversity. University of California Press, Berkeley, 347 pp. [review in Copeia 2004: 955] - get paper here
  • Smith, M.A. 1935. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Reptiles and Amphibia, Vol. II. Sauria. Taylor and Francis, London, 440 pp.
  • Stejneger, L. 1910. The batrachians and reptiles of Formosa. Proc. US Natl. Mus. 38: 91-114 - get paper here
  • Stejneger, L. 1919. The “Glass-Snake” of Formosa. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 32: 142 - get paper here
  • Stejneger, L. 1925. Chinese amphibians and reptiles in the United States National Museum. Proc. US Natl. Mus. 66 (2562): 1-115. - get paper here
  • Uetz, P.H.; Patel, M.; Gbadamosi, Z.; Nguyen, A.; Shoope, S. 2024. A Reference Database of Reptile Images. Taxonomy 4: 723–732 - get paper here
  • Wang K, Lyu ZT, Wang J, Qi S, Che J 2022. Updated Checklist and Zoogeographic Division of the Reptilian Fauna of Yunnan Province, China. Biodiversity Science 30 (4): 21326, 1–31 - get paper here
  • Wang, C. G. M. Z. X., Jia, S. Y. K. T. L., & Hu, C. Z. J. 2022. An updated species checklist of amphibians and reptiles in Fujian Province, China. Biodiversity Science, 22090 - get paper here
  • Wang, Kai; Jinlong Ren, Hongman Chen, Zhitong Lyu, Xianguang Guo Ke Jiang, Jinmin Chen, Jiatang Li, Peng Guo, Yingyong Wang, Jing Che 2020. The updated checklists of amphibians and reptiles of China. Biodiversity Science 28 (2): 189-218 - get paper here
  • WCS 2024. Wildlife in Lao PDR, 2024 Status Report. Vientiane; Wildlife Conservation Society Lao PDR Program
  • Werner,F. 1910. Über neue oder seltene Reptilien des Naturhistorischen Museums in Hamburg. ii. Eidechsen. Jahrb. Hamburg. Wiss. Anst., vol. 27 (1909), suppl. no. 2, 1910, pp. 1-46; reprinted: 1910, Mitteil. Naturhist. Mus. Hamburg, vol. 27: 205-) - get paper here
  • Zhong, Changfu 1993. First records for Ophisaurus harti and Python molurus bivittatus from Jiangxi Province, China. Asiatic Herpetological Research 5: 103-104 - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:


Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator