You are here » home › search results › Holaspis laevis

Holaspis laevis WERNER, 1896

IUCN Red List - Holaspis laevis - Least Concern, LC
iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Holaspis laevis?

Add your own observation of
Holaspis laevis »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaLacertidae, Eremiadinae, Sauria, Lacertoidea, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Eastern serrate-toed tree lizard
G: Ostafrikanische Sägeschwanzeidechse 
SynonymHolaspis guentheri laevis WERNER 1896: 191
Holaspis guentheri laevis — ARNOLD 1989: 545
Holaspis guentheri laevis — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 17
Holaspis laevis — BROADLEY 2000
Holaspis guentheri laevis — KRONIGER & IN DEN BOSCH 2001
Holaspis laevis — SPAWLS et al 2018: 189 
DistributionSierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, C/S Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya (P. Malonza, pers. comm., 23 June 2021), Malawi, Mozambique, Ivory Coast

Type locality: Usambara Mts., Tanzania  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 95.4.8.4 (= 1946.8.7.25) fide Arnold 1989: 545 
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 962 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentDistribution: not corrected for elevation of laevis to species status. Not in Angola fide Marques et al. 2018. Not in Equatorial Guinea fide SÁNCHEZ-VIALAS et al. 2022 (where only H. guentheri occurs). For a map see Parrinha et al. 2025: 64 (Fig. 8).

Similar species: H. guentheri. KRONIGER (2001) stated that the only difference between guentheri and laevis seems to be an additional paravertebral stripe in guentheri.

Synonymy: Boulenger 1921 considered laevis a synonym of guentheri. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin laevis, smooth; slippery, polished, plain. 
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
  • Bischoff, W. 2005. Die echten Eidechsen der Familie Lacertidae - eine Übersicht. Draco 5 (21): 4-27 - get paper here
  • Broadley, D. G. 2000. Geographical Distribution. Holaspis laevis (WERNER, 1895). African Herp News (31): 13-14 - 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
  • Buruwate, T. C., & Lloyd-Jones, D. J. 2024. Amphibian and Reptile Diversity of Niassa Special Reserve, Northern Mozambique. Journal of East African Natural History, 113(1), 1-18 - get paper here
  • Conradie, Werner; Gabriela B. Bittencourt-Silva, Hanlie M. Engelbrecht, Simon P. Loader, Michele Menegon, Cristóvão Nanvonamuquitxo, Michael Scott, Krystal A. Tolley 2016. Exploration into the hidden world of Mozambique’s sky island forests: new discoveries of reptiles and amphibians. Zoosyst. Evol. 92 (2): 163–180, DOI 10.3897/zse.92.9948 - get paper here
  • Esterbauer, H. 2018. Haltung und Nachzucht der Ostafrikanischen Sägeschwanzeidechse, Holaspis laevis. Reptilia 23 (134): 44-51 - get paper here
  • Esterbauer, Hans E 2014. Bau einer Styropor-Terrarienanlage zur tiergerechten Haltung, Nachzucht und Aufzucht von Echsen. Draco 16 (56): 60-66 - get paper here
  • Kroniger, M. 2004. Die Ostafrikanische Sägeschwanzeidechse Holaspis laevis. Natur und Tier Verlag (Münster), 64 pp. - get paper here
  • Kroniger, M. & in den Bosch, H.A.J. 2001. Biological data on Holaspis guentheri laevis Werner, 1895 obtained from vivarium keeping. Podarcis 2 (3): 73-81 - get paper here
  • KRONIGER, M.: 2003. Holaspis laevis WERNER, 1895 - Ostafrikanische Sägeschwanzeidechse. Die Eidechse 14 (3): 105-108 - get paper here
  • Lyakurwa, J., Loader, S., Ngalason, W., Gumbs, R., Ofori-Boateng, C. and Liedtke, H. 2024. Kimboza, a Small Lowland Forest With an Outstanding Herpetofauna Diversity in East Africa. Ecol Evol, 14: e70406 - get paper here
  • Malonza, Patrick K.; David M. Mulwa, Joash O. Nyamache, Georgina Jones 2017. Biogeography of the Shimba Hills ecosystem herpetofauna in Kenya. Zoological Research 38(5): 1-11 - get paper here
  • Parrinha, D., Marques, M. P., Gonçalves, F. M., Tiutenko, A., Bauer, A. M., & Ceríaco, L. M. 2025. The genus Holaspis (Squamata: Lacertidae) in Angola: a tale of forgotten specimens and disappearing forests, with the description of a new species. Salamandra 61 (1): 53-69 - get paper here
  • 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
  • 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
  • Werner, F. 1895. Über einige Reptilien aus Usambara (Deutsch-Ostafrika). Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Königlichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien, 45: 190—194 - get paper here
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:

As link to this species use URL address:

https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Holaspis&species=laevis

without field 'search_param'. Field 'search_param' is used for browsing search result.



Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator