Ophisops nictans ARNOLD, 1989
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Ophisops nictans
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| Higher Taxa | Lacertidae, Eremiadinae, Sauria, Lacertoidea, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Lesser snake-eyed lacerta |
| Synonym | Cabrita jerdonii BEDDOME 1870: 34 Cabritropsis jerdoni BEDDOME in BLANFORD 1870 (fide SMITH 1935) Cabrita jerdoni — SMITH 1935: 375 Cabrita jerdoni minor DERANIYAGALA 1971: 104 Ophisops nictans ARNOLD 1989: 245 (nom. subst. pro O. jerdonii BEDDOME 1870) Ophisops minor minor — BÖHME & BISCHOFF 1991: 220 Ophisops minor nictans — BÖHME & BISCHOFF 1991: 220 Ophisops minor — DAS 1996: 49 Ophisops minor minor — SOMAWEERA & SOMAWEERA 2009 Ophisops minor nictans — MURTHY 2010 Ophisops minor nictans — MAYER 2015 Ophisops minor nictans — GANESH & ARUMUGAM 2016 Ophisops nictans — PATEL & VYAS 2020 |
| Distribution | NE/E India, E Sri Lanka minor: E Sri Lanka; Type locality: “Bulupitiya-Nilgala area in Uva Province”, Sri Lanka. nictans: India (Tamil Nadu, Karantaka). Type locality: “between Collegal and Cauverypuram" (near Karnataka / Tamil Nadu border) |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: NMSL (Colombo National Museum) 1971.1.1; paratypes: 14 specimen, also in Colombo |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: “Differs from leschenaulti in the following particulars: Upper head-shields coarsely striated. Nostril between a large anterior and two small posterior nasals, which are not distinctly swollen; no ridge on the labial shields; one or two small shields separating the prefrontals often present; interparietal larger and broader, completely separating the parietals; rarely it is divided in two, an occipital thus being formed; first supraocular often broken into several small shields: loreal region feebly concave. Dorsal scales larger, nearly as large as the caudals. larger than the laterals; ventral plates subequal, in from 6 to 8 longitudinal and 19 to 23 transverse series; from 26 to 30 scales round the middle of the body; femoral pores 11 to 15. Brownish or golden above with two light lateral stripes, the upper much more conspicuous than the lower,; they are bordered with a longitudinal series of black spots; lips and throat speckled with black. Range. Northern and Central India. Agra (U.P.), Chanda, Bilaspur and Bhandara (C.P.), Udaipur and Jashpur, west of Chota Nagpur, Palkonda Hills, Godavari district, S.E. Berar. Blanford 1879) remarks that it is common in the dry forests of the Godavari, quite as plentiful, if not more so, than leschenaulti. Beddome's description was drawn up from a single specimen, and this cannot now be traced. There are, however, in the British Museum specimens collected by Beddome and identified by him as jerdoni.” (Smith 1935: 375) |
| Comment | Synonymy: partly after SMITH 1935. After Cabrita was synonymized with Ophisops by ARNOLD 1989, Cabrita jerdonii BEDDOME 1870 became a homonym of Ophisops jerdonii BLYTH 1853. Hence, ARNOLD 1989 proposed a substitute name, Ophisops minor nictans. Unfortunately, DERANIYAGALA 1971 had described Cabrita jerdoni minor previously, which may be conspecific with O. nictans, and thus has priority. However, the status of minor remains unclear as there appear to be very few known specimens. |
| Etymology | Named after its rather small body size compared to Ophisops leschenaultii. O. m. nictans has been named after the presence of eyelid and nictitating faculty in this subspecies. |
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