| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | Ablepharus alaicus kucenkoi NIKOLSKY 1902
Ablepharus alaicus alaicus ELPATJEVSKY 1901
Ablepharus alaicus yakovlevae (EREMCHENKO 1983) |
| Common Names | E: Alai ground skink
G: Alai-Natternauge
Chinese: 阿赖山泛蜥 (Ā Lài Shān Fàn Xī) |
| Synonym | Ablepharus alaicus ELPATJEVSKY 1901
Ablepharus alaicus — WETTSTEIN 1960: 62
Asymblepharus alaicus — EREMCHENKO & SZCZERBAK 1980
Ablepharus saposhnikovi KASTCHENKO 1909: 126
Ablepharus bivittatus alaicus
Asymblepharus alaicus — SZCZERBAK 2003
Asymblepharus alaicus alaicus — DAVLETBAKOV et al. 2016
Ablepharus alaicus — MIRZA et al. 2022
Asymblepharus alaicus kucenkoi NIKOLSKY 1902
Ablepharus kucenkoi NIKOLSKY 1902: 7
Asumblepharus [sic] alaicus kucenkoi — EREMCHENKO & SZCZERBAK 1986
Asymblepharus alaicus kucenkoi — SINDACO & JEREMČENKO 2008
Asymblepharus alaicus kucenkoi — BARABANOV & MILTO 2017
Ablepharus alaicus kucenkoi — MIRZA et al. 2022 (by implication)
Asymblepharus alaicus yakovlevae EREMCHENKO 1983
Asymblepharus alaicus yakovlevae — SINDACO & JEREMČENKO 2008
Asymblepharus alaicus yakovlevae — DAVLETBAKOV et al. 2016
Ablepharus alaicus yakovlevae — MIRZA et al. 2022 (by implication) |
| Distribution | N China (W Xinjiang), Kyrgyzstan, NE Uzbekistan,
Tajikistan (Tianshan and Pamir-Alai mountain ranges) to SE Kazakhstan
kucenkoi: Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, China (Yinin); Type locality: “right bank of the Sarydzhas River” [Kyrgyzstan]; “Litt. lac. Issyk-kul” [= shore of Issyk-Kul Lake, Kyrgyzstan] fide Barabanov & Milto 2017.
yakovlevae: Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan ?
Type locality: Kyrghyzstan
|
| Reproduction | Viviparous. |
| Types | Lectotype: ZMMU Re-2248 (Zoological Museum of Moscow State University) No. 2248, chosen from the type series (9 specimens, Collection of the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University), from “Pamir”, leg. N.N. Nazarov, 1892, female (Eremchenko, 1983); Paralectotype: ZISP 9427
Holotype: ZISP 9542 (Zoological Institute, Academy of Sciences of USSR), Issyk-Kul Lake, leg. A. Kucenko, 8 August 1901, female (Eremchenko, 1983); Syntypes: MNKNU [kucenkoi]
Holotype: NMNHU (also as ZIK ReN) 14 (given as Institute of Zoology, Academy of Sciences of Ukranian SSR, Kiev), Kyrgyziya, Kyrgyzsky Ridge, Alamedin Ravine (Tatyr Urochiszcze), 1800 m a.s.l., leg. V. Eremchenko, 13 August 1977, male (Eremchenko, 1983); Paratypes: ZISP 10423.1-2, 2 specimens, Sukulukaya gorge. Leg.: Abramov and Begak, 2.05.1904.—ZISP 10425 (one specimen), Semirechenskaya oblast. Leg.: Abramov and Begak, 25.04.1904.—ZISP 10542.1-3, 3 specimens, Semirechenskaya oblast, Talas River. Leg.: Abramov, 1905.—ZISP 12821 (one specimen), Chelkan River, Talassky Alatau. Leg.: Bianki, 6.08.1930.—ZISP 14068.1-11, 11 specimens, Alexandrovsky mountain ridge, Makbal pass. Leg.: Kirichenko, 2-5.06.1910.—ZISP 14071.1-6, 6 specimens, Takyr-ter, Pishpeksky District. Leg.: Chernavin, 19-25.07.1913.—ZISP 14076 (one specimen), Uzun-Akhmat, Eastern Kazakhstan. Leg.: Abramov, 27.06.1905 [yakovlevae] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus Asymblepharus): The genus Asymblepharus can be identified by elliptical tympanum, hidden upper eye opening under the 3 or 4 large shields, 2–6 striped plates on the outside of the forelimb, light and dark longitudinal strips on the back, adpressed hind-limbs reaching to knees, well-developed limbs with five toes, and transversal series of dorsal scales at the midtrunk 24–30 (Eremchenko and Sczerbak 1980).
Additional details (4825 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Illustration: Plate 29C in ZHAO & ADLER 1993. KHALIKOV (pers. comm.) says Ablepharus kucenkoi (NIKOLSKY 1908).
Distribution: see map in Dujsebayeva 2015 (for Kazakhstan).
Type species: Ablepharus alaicus ELPATJEVSKY 1901 is the type species of the genus Asymblepharus EREMCHENKO & SZCZERBAK 1980. Mirza et al. 2022 synonymized Asymblepharus with Ablepharus Fitzinger 1824 (type species: A. pannonicus). |
| Etymology | Apparently named after the Alai mountain range. |
| References |
- ANANJEVA, NATALIA B.; KONSTANTIN D. MILTO, ANDREI V. BARABANOV, EVGENY A. GOLYNSKY 2020. An annotated type catalogue of amphibians and reptiles collected by Nikolay A. Zarudny in Iran and Middle Asia. Zootaxa 4722 (2): 101–128 - get paper here
- BARABANOV, ANDREI & KONSTANTIN MILTO 2017. An annotated type catalogue of the anguid, dibamid, scincid and varanid lizards in the Department of Herpetology, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia (Reptilia: Sauria: Anguidae, Dibamidae, Scincidae and Varanida Zootaxa 4244 (1): 065–078 - get paper here
- Davletbakov, A. T.; L. A. Kustareva, D. A. Milko, A. N. Ostastshenko, S. S. Sagymbaev, S. A. Toropov, N. V. Trotchenko 2015. Genetical Fund Cadastre of Kyrgyz Republic. Vol. IV. Phylum Chordata (chordates). Bishkek, 128 p. + XXXVI color tables - get paper here
- Dujsebayeva, T.N. 2015. ABOUT THE DESERT LIDLESS SKINK ABLEPHARUS DESERTI IN KAZAKHSTAN AND PARAPATRY OF A. DESERTI AND ASYMBLEPHARUS ALAICUS (REPTILIA: SCINCIDAE). Труды Зоологического института РАН Том 319 (2): 282–303
- Elpatjevsky, VLADIMIR S. 1901. The genus Ablepharus Fitz. in the collections of the Zoological Museum of Moscow University [in Russian]. Dnevn. Zool. Otdel. Imper. Obszest. Lubit. Estestvozn., Moscow, 3 (2): 37-39
- Eremchenko (or JERIOMTSCHENKO), VALERY K., and NIKOLAI N. Shcherbak [= Szczerbak] 1986. Ablepharine Lizards of the USSR and Adjacent Countries [in Russian]. Ylym Publ., Frunze. 170, (2) pages
- Eremchenko, V.K. 1980. Concerning ancestral species of ablepharine lizards (Reptilia, Sauna, Scincidae) of the USSR [in Russian]. Vestnik Zoologii, Kiev, 1980 (4): 10-15
- Eremchenko, V.K. 1983. Distribution & geographic variability of Asymblepharus alaicus (Sauria, Scincidae) [in Russian] Vestnik Zoologii, Kiev 1983 (2): 35-42.
- Kashtchenko, Nikolai F. [as KASCENKO] 1909. The reptiles and amphibians collected by the expeditions of 1902-6 and 1908 by Prof. V. V. Saposnikov in Central Asia. [in Russian]. Annu. Mus. Zool. Acad. Imper. Sci.,<br>St. Petersburg, 14(1-2): 119-130 - get paper here
- Kolbintzev, Vladimir, Larissa Miroschnichenko and Tatjana Dujsebayeva 2000. Distribution and natural history of the lidless skinks, Asymblepharus alaicus and Ablepharus deserti (Sauria: Scincidae) in the Aksu-Djabagly Nature Reserve (Western Tian-Shan Mountains), Kazakstan. Asiatic Herpetological Research 8: 69-74 [1999] - get paper here
- Liang, T., Liang, Q. R., Ran, J. M., An, J., Huang, Y. H., Ding, P., & Shi, L. 2024. Hiding in the valley: a new national record of Ablepharus eremchenkoi, with rediscovery of Ablepharus alaicus in China: phylogeny, morphology and natural history notes. Herpetozoa, 37, 95-105 - get paper here
- Mirza ZA, Bragin AM, Bhosale H, Gowande GG, Patel H, Poyarkov NA. 2022. A new ancient lineage of ablepharine skinks (Sauria: Scincidae) from eastern Himalayas with notes on origin and systematics of the group. PeerJ 10:e12800 - get paper here
- Nikolsky, A.M. 1902. Sur une nouvelle espèce du genre Ablepharus (Ablepharus kucenkoi n. sp. ; Lacertilia, Scincidae). [in Russian and Latin] Annuaire du Musée Zoologique de l'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint Pétersbourg, 7 (1–2), 7–9. - get paper here
- Sindaco, R. & Jeremcenko, V.K. 2008. The reptiles of the Western Palearctic. Edizioni Belvedere, Latina (Italy), 579 pp. - get paper here
- Szczerbak, N.N. 2003. Guide to the Reptiles of the Eastern Palearctic. Krieger, Malabar, FL, 260 pp. - get paper here
- Terentjev, P. V. and Chernov, S. A. 1965. Key to amphibians and reptiles. 3rd edition. Translated from Russian. Israel Program for Scientific Translations Ltd., Jerusalem.
- Vaissi, S., Kurnaz, M., Şahin, M.K. et al. 2023. Climatic Niche Divergence and Conservatism Promote Speciation in Snake-Eyed Skinks (Sauria: Scincidae): New Insight into the Evolution and Diversification of Ablepharus Species. Evol Biol (2023) - get paper here
- Vedmederya, Valeriy; Oleksandr Zinenko, and Andrei Barabanov 2009. An Annotated Type Catalogue of Amphibians and Reptiles in the Museum of Nature at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (Kharkiv, Ukraine). Russ. J. Herpetol. 16 (3): 203-212 - 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
- Wettstein, O. 1960. Lacertilia aus Afghanistan. Contribution a l’etude de la faune d’Afghanistan. 3 [in German]. Zool. Anz. 165: 58-63
- Zhao,E. & Adler,K. 1993. Herpetology of China. SSAR, Oxford/Ohio, 1-522
|
| External links |
|
