Chalcides bottegi BOULENGER, 1898
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Chalcides bottegi?
Chalcides bottegi
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Ocellated skink |
| Synonym | Chalcides bottegi BOULENGER 1898: 719 Chalcides bottegi — NEUMANN 1905 Chalcides bottegi bottegi — LOVERIDGE 1936: 73 Chalcides ocellatus bottegi — DREWES 1972: 7 Chalcides ragazzii — PASTEUR 1981: 6 Chalcides ragazzii bottegi — PASTEUR 1981: 11 Chalcides ragazzii — SCHLEICH et al. 1996: 333 Chalcides ocellatus — SPAWLS 2001: 120 Chalcides bottegi — GREENBAUM et al. 2006: 78 Chalcides bottegi — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 166 |
| Distribution | Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan (Jumhūriyyat), Republic of South Sudan (RSS) Type locality: Between Sancurar and Amarr (region northwest of Lake Chew Bahir),Ethiopia. |
| Reproduction | ovovivparous |
| Types | Holotype: MSNG 28569 |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Chalcides bottegi is a large, pentadactyl species with extensively expanded vertebral scales, a long tail, a vertebral pale brown stripe with lateral, thin brown borders that spans the vertebrals and medial half of the paravertebrals, a cream stripe on the lateral sides of the dorsum, and an irregular brown stripe on the flanks; the dorsum, flanks, and tail are extensively covered with brown spots and white ocelli. Chalcides bottegi is distinguished from C. armitagei by the possession of pentadactyl limbs (tridactyl in C. armitagei), six supralabials (5 in C. armitagei), six infralabials (4 in C. armitagei), one postnasal (absent in C. armitagei), 81–92 ventrals (94–96 in C. armitagei), and 41–43 presacral vertebrae (50–51 in C. armitagei) (Caputo et al., 1995). Chalcides bottegi is distinguished from C. pulchellus and C. thierryi by having a vertebral pale brown stripe with lateral, thin brown borders that spans the vertebrals and medial half of the paravertebrals, a cream stripe on the lateral sides of the dorsum, and an irregular brown stripe on the flanks (no stripes in C. pulchellus and C. thierryi), and extensive brown spots with white ocelli on the body (no white ocelli on the body in C. pulchellus and C. thierryi). Differences among populations of C. bottegi, C. ocellatus and C. ragazzii are shown in Table 1. Chalcides bottegi is distinguished from C. ocellatus by having a vertebral pale brown stripe with lateral, thin brown borders that spans the vertebrals and medial half of the paravertebrals, a cream stripe on the lateral sides of the dorsum, and an irregular brown stripe on the flanks (no stripes or vertebral stripe spanning vertebrals, paravertebrals, and dorsals lateral to paravertebrals in C. ocellatus), always extensively expanded vertebral scales (usually unexpanded or slightly expanded in C. ocellatus), 22–24 scale rows around midbody (26–32 in C. ocellatus), and 41–43 presacral vertebrae (34–39 in all but the North African population of C. ocellatus). Chalcides bottegi is distinguished from C. ragazzii by having brown borders on each side of the pale brown vertebral stripe (bold dark brown borders on a pale brown or brown vertebral stripe in C. ragazzii; Fig. 7), always extensively expanded vertebral scales (usually unexpanded or slightly expanded in C. ragazzii), 81–92 ventrals (68–80 in C. ragazzii), and 41–43 presacral vertebrae (33–39 in C. ragazzii) [from GREENBAUM et al. 2006]. |
| Comment | |
| Etymology | Named after Captain Vittorio Bòttego, who collected the holotype. |
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