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Congolacerta vauereselli (TORNIER, 1902)

IUCN Red List - Congolacerta vauereselli - Least Concern, LC

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Higher TaxaLacertidae, Eremiadinae, Sauria, Lacertoidea, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Sparse-scaled Forest Lizard 
SynonymLacerta vauereselli TORNIER 1902: 701
Algiroides boulengeri PERACCA 1917 (fide LOVERIDGE 1957: 229)
Lacerta vauereselli — SCHMIDT 1919: 495
Zootoca vauereselli — BOULENGER 1920: 149
Algiroides boulengeri — BOULENGER 1920: 351
Lacerta (Zootoca) vauereselli — WITTE & LAURENT 1942
Adolfus vauereselli — ARNOLD 1973
Adolfus vauereselli — ARNOLD 1989
Adolfus vauereselli — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 17
Adolfus vauereselli — GREENBAUM et al. 2011
Congolacerta vauereselli — GREENBAUM et al. 2011
Congolacerta vauereselli — SPAWLS et al 2018: 185 
DistributionW Uganda, W Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, C/E Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire)

Type locality: Kagera, west of Lake Victoria, Tanzania.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: ZMB 17700 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Several mensural, meristic, and qualitative characters that diagnose Congolacerta are shown in Tables 3–5, including: modest SVL (50–58 mm); dorsoanterior border of quadrate bone rounded; size of long free ribs immediately posterior to thoracic ribs very elongated; posterior border of medial loop of clavicle present and thickened; small to very small postfemoral mite pockets present (Arnold, 1986b); intramuscular portion of hemipenial armature deeply cleft anteriorly; shape of hemipenial clavulae complexly lobed; female genital sinus bilobed; habitat forest clearings and grasslands; and ventral coloration usually unpigmented (C. vauereselli) or yellow with black or brown blotches (C. asukului) [from GREENBAUM et al. 2011]. 
CommentTORNIER (1902) did not explain the source of the name.

Type species: Lacerta vauereselli TORNIER 1902 is the type species of the genus Congolacerta GREENBAUM, VILLANUEVA, KUSAMBA, ARISTOTE & BRANCH 2011.

Comparisons: Arnold 1989 presents a list of 51 characters across 4 species of Adolfus (A. jacksoni, alleni, africanus, vauereselli). 
EtymologyThe origin of the species name is not mentioned by Tornier. Klaver (2022), following Mertens (1949) and Bischoff (2001), concluded that it is a word play pronouncing the letters V, R, S and L in German, i.e. ”vau”, ”er”, ”es” and “el”, probably standing for Vertebrata, Reptilia, Sauria, and Lacertidae.

The genus name is derived from Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the genus occurs along most of the eastern montane border (Albertine Rift), and lacerta, a lizard. Gender is feminine. 
References
  • Arnold, E.N. 1989. Systematics and adaptive radiation of Equatorial African lizards assigned to the genera Adolfus, Bedriagaia, Gastropholis, Holaspis and Lacerta (Reptilia: Lacertidae) Journal of Natural History 23: 525-555 - get paper here
  • Arnold,E.N. 1973. Relationships of the Palaearctic lizards assigned to the genera Lacerta, Algyroides and Psammodromus (Reptilia: Lacertidae). Bull. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.) Zool. 25: 289-366 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Bischoff, W. 2001. Gustav Tornier (1858 – 1938), in: Rieck, W., Hallmann, G. & Bischoff, W. (eds) Die Geschichte der Herpetologie und Terarienkunde im deutschsprachigen Raum. Mertensiella, 12: 642–643
  • Boulenger,G.A. 1920. Monograph of the Lacertidae, vol. 1. British Museum (London) - get paper here
  • Broadley, D. G. & HOWELL, K. M. 1991. A check list of the reptiles of Tanzania, with synoptic keys. Syntarsus 1: 1—70
  • GREENBAUM, ELI; CESAR O. VILLANUEVA, CHIFUNDERA KUSAMBA, MWENEBATU M. ARISTOTE and WILLIAM R. BRANCH 2011. A molecular phylogeny of Equatorial African Lacertidae, with the description of a new genus and species from eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 163: 913–942 - get paper here
  • Klaver, Charles 2022. The etymology of three enigmatic (sub-)specific names clarified. Amphibia-Reptilia, 43(4), 431-432 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1920. Notes on East African lizards collected 1915-1919, with description of a new genus and species of skink and new subspecies of gecko. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1920: 131-167 - get paper here
  • Mertens, R. 1949. Lebengebärende Dreihorn-Chamäleons. Natur und Volk 79: 195-202
  • Roelke, Corey E. & Smith, E.N. 2010. Herpetofauna, Parc National des Volcans, North Province, Republic of Rwanda. Check List 6 (4): 525-531 - get paper here
  • Schmidt, Karl Patterson 1919. Contributions to the Herpetology of the Belgian Congo based on the Collection of the American Congo Expedition, 1909-1915. Part I: turtles, crocodiles, lizards, and chamaeleons. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 39 (2): 385-624 - get paper here
  • 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
  • Tornier,G. 1902. Herpetologisch Neues aus Ostafrika. Zool. Anz. 25: 700-704 - get paper here
  • Witte, G. F. de 1933. Reptiles récoltés au Conge Belge par le Dr. H. Schouteden et par M. G.-F. Witte. Ann. Mus. Conge belge Zool. Ser. 1 Tome III: 53-100.
  • WITTE, G.-F. DE & R.F. LAURENT 1942. Liste des Lacertidae du Congo Belge et description d’une espèce nouvelle. Revue de Zoologie et de Botanique Africaines, Bruxelles, 36 (2): 165-180 - get paper here
 
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