Nucras ornata (GRAY, 1864)

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Higher Taxa	Lacertidae, Eremiadinae, Sauria, Lacertoidea, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies
Common Names	E: Ornate Sandveld Lizard, Ornate Scrub Lizard
Synonym	Teira 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
Distribution	SE 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
Reproduction	oviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022)
Types	Holotype: unlocated (type not in BMNH fide P. Campbell, pers. comm., 25 July 2014)
Diagnosis
Comment	Nucras 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).
Etymology	The 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 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 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
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information http://www.sntc.org.sz/photo.asp?pid=51 http://www.lacerta.de/AS/Taxon.php?Genus=38&Species=157 Google images

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