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Nucras ornata (GRAY, 1864)

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Higher TaxaLacertidae, Eremiadinae, Sauria, Lacertoidea, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Ornate Sandveld Lizard, Ornate Scrub Lizard 
SynonymTeira ornata GRAY 1864: 380
Lacerta cameranoi BEDRIAGA 1886
Lacerta tessellata pseudotessellata BEDRIAGA 1886
Nucras intertexta ornata — BROADLEY 1962: 820
Nucras taeniolata ornata — BROADLEY 1972
Nucras taeniolata ornata — PIENAAR 1978
Nucras taeniolata ornata — AUERBACH 1987: 126
Nucras ornata — BOYCOTT 1992
Nucras taeniolata ornata — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 17
Nucras ornata — SPAWLS et al. 2001
Nucras ornata — EDWARDS et al. 2013
Nucras ornata — SPAWLS et al 2018: 193
Nucras ornata — BAUER et al. 2025 
DistributionSE Tanzania, Malawi, S Zambia, south to Natal, west to the N Cape Province, E Botswana, N Namibia

Type locality: “South-Eastern Africa” = Zambezi River.

Type locality (cameranoi): Tete, Mozambique
Type locality (pseudotessellata): Tete, Mozambique  
Reproductionoviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) 
TypesHolotype: unlocated (type not in BMNH fide P. Campbell, pers. comm., 25 July 2014) 
DiagnosisUnfortunately 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 758 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentNucras taeniolata has been split into 3 species by Jacobsen (1989): Nucras taeniolata, N. holubi STEINDACHNER (1882) and N. ornata GRAY, J. E. (1864).

Synonymy: partly after Bauer et al. 2025.

Distribution: For localities in Zambia see map in Bauer et al. 2025: 488 (Fig. 5). 
EtymologyThe Latin ornata, -us, = decorated" or "ornamented," refers to the ornate coloration. 
References
  • Auerbach, R.D. 1987. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Botswana. Mokwepa Consultants, Botswana, 295 pp.
  • Bates, M.F.; Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M.; Burger, M., Marais, J.; Alexander, G.J. & de Villliers, M.S. (eds.) 2014. Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria, 512 pp.
  • BAUER, A. M., CHILDERS, J. L., & BURGER, M. 2025. The Nucras (Squamata: Lacertidae) of the eastern Zambezi River Basin, with the description of a new species from Zambia. Zootaxa 5632 (3): 480-500 - get paper here
  • Bauer, Aaron M.;Günther, Rainer 1995. An annotated type catalogue of the lacertids (Reptilia: Lacertidae) in the Zoological Museum, Berlin. Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berlin 71 (1): 37-62 - get paper here
  • Boycott, R.C. 1992. An Annotated Checklist of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Swaziland. The Conservation Trust of Swaziland - get paper here
  • Branch, William R. & Bauer, Aaron M. 2005. The herpetological contributions of Sir Andrew Smith. SSAR, 80 pp.
  • Broadley, D. G. & HOWELL, K. M. 1991. A check list of the reptiles of Tanzania, with synoptic keys. Syntarsus 1: 1—70
  • Broadley, D.G. 1962. On some reptile collections from the North-Western and North-Eastern Districts of Southern Rhodesia 1958-1961, with descriptions of four new lizards. Occ. Pap. Nat. Mus. South. Rhodesia 26 (B): 787-843
  • Broadley, D.G. 1972. A review of the Nucras tessellata group (Sauria: Lacertidae). Arnoldia 20: 1-35
  • Duméril, A. M. C. and G. Bibron. 1839. Erpétologie Générale on Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles. Vol. 5. Roret/Fain et Thunot, Paris, 871 pp. - get paper here
  • Edwards, Shelley; Krystal A. Tolley, Bieke Vanhooydonck, G. John Measey and Anthony Herrel 2013. Is dietary niche breadth linked to morphology and performance in Sandveld lizards Nucras (Sauria: Lacertidae)? Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, DOI: 10.1111/bij.12148 - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1864. Notes on some new lizards from south—eastern Africa, with the descriptions of several new species. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1864: 58—62. - get paper here
  • 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
  • Jacobsen, N. H. G. 1989. A herpetological survey of the Transvaal. Unpubl. thesis, Univ. Natal, South Africa
  • Miguel, A. R., Sitole, B. I., Calonga, N. A., Duarte, C. H., Armando, D., Nanvonamuquitxo, C. J., & Kaiser, H. 2025. Beyond the asymptote: a near-complete reptile inventory in the Miombo woodland and on Mount Morué, Mocuba Municipality, with a major range extension for the lizard Nucras boulengeri Neumann, 1900. Herpetology Notes 18: 1051-1071 - get paper here
  • Pienaar, Uys de Villiers 1978. The Reptile Fauna of the Kruger National Park. Pretoria: National Parks Board of South Africa, i-vii, 222 S.
  • Pietersen, Darren, Verburgt, Luke & Davies, John 2021. Snakes and other reptiles of Zambia and Malawi. Struik Nature / Penguin Random House South Africa, 376 pp., ISBN 9781775847373
  • Smith, A. 1838. Contributions to the Natural History of Southern Africa. Art. VIII. Mag. Nat. Hist., London, 2 (14): 92-94
  • Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2002. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147] - get paper here
  • Spawls, Steve; Kim Howell, Harald Hinkel, Michele Menegon 2018. Field Guide to East African Reptiles. Bloomsbury, 624 pp. - get paper here
  • Steindachner,F. 1882. Über eine neue Eremias-Art aus dem Tale des Limpopo-(Krokodilflusses) in Transvaal. (E. holubi). Sitzungsb. Akad. Wien, 86: 83-85 - get paper here
  • Tolley, K.A., Conradie, W., Pietersen, D.W., Weeber, J., Burger, M. & Alexander, G.J. (eds) 2023. Conservation status of the reptiles of South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho. Suricata 10. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria - get paper here
  • Wyk, Kurt M van; Bryan Maritz & Bruce W Clegg 2025. Distribution and status of reptile species in south-eastern Zimbabwe. African Journal of Herpetology, 74:2, 210-270, - 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
 
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