You are here » home › search results › Melanoseps occidentalis

Melanoseps occidentalis (PETERS, 1878)

IUCN Red List - Melanoseps occidentalis - Least Concern, LC
iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Melanoseps occidentalis?

Add your own observation of
Melanoseps occidentalis »

We have no photos, try to find some by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaScincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
SubspeciesMelanoseps occidentalis zairensis BRYGOO & ROUX-ESTEVE 1982
Melanoseps occidentalis occidentalis (PETERS 1877) 
Common NamesE: Western Limbless Skink 
SynonymHerpetosaura occidentalis PETERS 1877: 416
Scelotes occidentalis — WERNER 1898
Melanoseps occidentalis — TORNIER 1901: 62
Scelotes schebeni STERNFELD 1910
Scelotes occidentalis — DE WITTE & LAURENT 1942
Scelotes schebeni — DE WITTE & LAURENT 1943: 31
Scelotes occidentalis — DE WITTE & LAURENT 1943: 31
Melanoseps occidentalis — ROMER 1953
Melanoseps occidentalis — MERTENS 1965: 220
Melanoseps schebeni — BRYGOO & ROUX-ESTEVE 1982
Scelotes schebeni — WELCH 1982
Melanoseps occidentalis — BRYGOO & ROUX-ESTEVE 1982
Melanoseps occidentalis — BROADLEY 1998
Melanoseps occidentalis — WHITING et al. 2003

Melanoseps occidentalis zairensis BRYGOO & ROUX-ESTEVE 1982
Melanoseps occidentalis zairensis BRYGOO 1985
Melanoseps occidentalis zairensis — BROADLEY et al. 2006 
DistributionCameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, C/E/S Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Angola, Central African Republic, Nigeria

Type locality: “Cameruns (W. Africa)” [= Cameroon],

zairensis: C Democratic Republic of the Congo.  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesHolotype: ZMB 9122
Holotype: ZMB 28898, the only known specimen of schebeni, is lost (fide BRYGOO & ROUX-ESTEVE 1982, Bauer 2016) [schebeni]
Holotype: MHNG 2072.67; paratypes: MHNG, MNHN [zairensis] 
DiagnosisUnfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions are available for collaborators and contributors. We will relaease that material sometime next year. Please contact us if you need any of this data earlier than that. 
CommentLimb morphology: limbless; Scelotes schebeni is missing both forelimbs AND hindlimbs (Danny Meirte, pers. comm., 12 Apr 2013).

Subspecies: The status of Melanoseps occidentalis zairensis remains unclear. Although it is known from about 20 (type) specimens, there seems hardly any subsequent study of it. Marques et al. 2018 chose to consider it as synonym of M. occidentalis, without justification.

Synonymy: following Bauer 2016. Sternfeld 1911 already synonymized schebeni with M. occidentalis, which has been confirmed by Bauer 2016.

Distribution: For a map with localities in Equatorial Guinea see SÁNCHEZ-VIALAS et al. 2022. Not in Namibia fide Luiselli et al. 2021, although the type locality of Scelotes schebeni is “Windhoek” (Namibia). 
EtymologyThe specific name occidentalis (Latin) refers to the western distribution of this species.

M. o. zairensis was named after its distribution in the DRC (formerly Zaire). 
References
  • Bauer, A.M.; Günther,R. & Klipfel,M. 1995. The herpetological contributions of Wilhelm C.H. Peters (1815-1883). SSAR Facsimile Reprints in Herpetology, 714 pp.
  • Bauer, Aaron M. 2016. On the taxonomic status of two enigmatic southern African fossorial skinks, Scelotes bicolor and S. schebeni. African Journal of Herpetology 65 (1): 33-38 | DOI: 10.1080/21564574.2016.1138149 - get paper here
  • Böhme, Wolfgang; Eberhard Fischer & Harald Hinkel 2023. Reptilien aus dem Irangi Forest, Provinz Kivu-Süd, Demokratische Republik Kongo. Sauria 45 (4): 29
  • Broadley, D.G. 1998. The reptilian fauna of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa). In: Schmidt, K.P. and Noble, G.K., Contributions to the Herpetology of the Belgian Congo... [reprint of the 1919 and 1923 papers]. SSAR Facsimile reprints in Herpetology, 780 pp.
  • Brygoo E R; Roux-Esteve R 1982. Un genre de lezards scincines d'Afrique: Melanoseps. Bulletin du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle SECTION A ZOOLOGIE BIOLOGIE ET ECOLOGIE ANIMALES 3 (4) 1981: 1169-1191
  • Chirio, L. & Lebreton, M. 2007. Atlas des reptiles du Cameroun. MNHN, IRD, Paris 688 pp.
  • Chirio, Laurent and Ivan Ineich 2006. Biogeography of the reptiles of the Central African Republic. African Journal of Herpetology 55(1):23-59. - get paper here
  • Dunger, G.T. 1972. The Lizards and Snakes of Nigeria. (Part 6 The Skinks of Nigeria (Dibamidae and Scincidae)). Nigerian Field 32: 99-120
  • Herrmann, H.-W.; W.R. Branch 2013. Fifty years of herpetological research in the Namib Desert and Namibia with an updated and annotated species checklist. Journal of Arid Environments 93: 94–115 - get paper here
  • Luiselli, L., Chirio, L., Gonwouo, N.L., Kusamba, C., LeBreton, M. & Zassi-Boulou, A.-G. 2021. Melanoseps occidentalis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: e.T16393882A16393891 - get paper here
  • Marques, Mariana P.; Luis M. P. Ceríaco , David C. Blackburn , and Aaron M. Bauer 2018. Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola -- Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840–2017). Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (Ser. 4) 65: 1-501 (Supplement II)
  • Mertens,R. 1965. Die Reptilien von Fernando Po. Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 15: 211-238 [1964] - get paper here
  • Pauwels, O.S.G. & Vande Weghe, J.P. 2008. Les reptiles du Gabon. Smithsonian Institution, Washington: 272 pp. - get paper here
  • Peters, W. 1878. Herpetologische Notizen. II. Bemerkungen über neue oder weniger bekannte Amphibien. Monatsberichte der Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 1877: 415-423 - get paper here
  • Romer, J.D. 1953. Reptiles and Amphibians Collected in the Port Harcourt Area of Nigeria. Copeia 1953 (2): 121-123 - get paper here
  • Sánchez-Vialas, A., CALVO-REVUELTA, M. & DE LA RIVA, I. 2022. Synopsis of the terrestrial Reptiles of Equatorial Guinea. Zootaxa 5202 (1): 1-197 - get paper here
  • Sternfeld,R. 1910. Eine neue Echse aus Deutsch-Südwestafrika. Sitzungsber. Ges. naturf. Freunde Berlin (8): 372 - get paper here
  • Tornier, G. 1901. Die Reptilien und Amphibien der Deutschen Tiefseeexpedition 1898/99. Zool. Anz. 24:61—66 - get paper here
  • Trape, J.F.; Trape, S. & Chirio, L. 2012. Lézards, crocodiles et tortues d'Afrique occidentale et du Sahara. IRD Orstom, 503 pp. - get paper here
  • Werner, FRANZ 1898. Verh. Wien. Zool.-Bot. Ges. 1898: 530
  • Whiting, A.S.; Aaron M. Bauer & Jack W. Sites, Jr. 2003. Phylogenetic relationships and limb loss in sub-Saharan African scincine lizards (Squamata: Scincidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 29 (3): 582-598 - get paper here
  • Witte, G. F. de & R. Laurent 1942. Contribution à la Faune Herpétologique du Congo belge. Rev. Zool. Bot. Afr. 36 (2): 101-115
  • Witte, G.F. de & R. Laurent 1943. Contribution à la systématique des formes dégradées de la famille des Scincidae apparentées au genre Scelotes Fitzinger. Mém. Mus. r. Hist. nat. Belg. (sér.2) 26: 44 pp. - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:


Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator