Panaspis tsavoensis KILUNDA, CONRADIE, WASONGA, JIN, PENG, MURPHY, MALONZA & CHE, 2019
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Panaspis tsavoensis
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Tsavo Snake-eyed Skink |
| Synonym | Panaspis tsavoensis KILUNDA, CONRADIE, WASONGA, JIN, PENG, MURPHY, MALONZA & CHE 2019: 266 Ablepharus wahlbergii — BARBOUR & LOVERIDGE 1928: 163 Ablepharus wahlbergii — LOVERIDGE 1936: 72 Ablepharus wahlbergii — LOVERIDGE 1957: 219 Panaspis wahlbergii — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 16 Panaspis wahlbergii — SPAWLS et al. 2002: 155 Afroablepharus wahlbergi — BRANCH 2005: 77 Panaspis wahlbergi — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 165 |
| Distribution | Kenya (Tsavo East National Park) Type locality: Voi River near Voi Town, Tsavo East National Park, Taita-Taveta County (-3.36488°, 38.62143°; 524 m a.s.l.) |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. NMK-L3845 (Field No. KIZ030248), adult male collected on 21 August 2016 by Jacob M. Ngwava, Hesborn Ombati and Felista K. Kilunda (Fig 5 in Kilunda et al. 2019). Paratypes (5 specimens). NMK-L3847 (Field No. KIZ030235), adult male collected on 5 September 2016 in Komboyo Area near Mtito Andei, Tsavo West National Park, Taita-Taveta County (-2.75396o, 38.11755o; 868 m a.s.l.) by Vincent Muchai, Hesborn Ombati & Felista K. Kilunda; NMK/L2368/1, adult female collected on 14 July 2000 Kisima rocky hills, Taita-Rukinga Ranch, Tsavo plains (-3.85326o, 38.87479o; 431 m a.s.l.) and NMK- L2368/2, adult male collected on 15th July at Taita Discovery Centre- Taita-Rukinga Ranch (-3.70549o, 38.77406o; 450 m a.s.l.) both by Craig Weatherby & Victor D. Wasonga; NMK-L3097, adult male collected on 7 December 2007 at Kitobo forest-Taveta (-3.44343o, 37.61852o; 732 m a.s.l.) by Patrick K. Malonza, Beryl A. Bwong and Joash O. Nyamache. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Panaspis tsavoensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from other members of the East Africa Panaspis wahlbergi-maculicollis group by the following combination of characteristics: 1) no white ventrolateral stripe (pres- ent in P. wahlbergi, P. massaiensis comb. nov. and P. megalurus); 2) fused frontoparietal (divided in P. megalurus); 3) smaller average size (29.1 mm SVL versus 33.2 mm SVL in P. maculicollis); 4) shorter tail about 1.1 times SVL (versus 1.2 times SVL in P. maculicollis). In addition, percentage genetic pair-wise difference from its nearest congener P. massaiensis comb. nov. is 5.87 % (see Table 2), from which it can be easily diagnosed with the absence of a white ventrolateral stripe, 24 versus 26 mid-body scale rows; shorter eye-tympanum distance and eye-snout distance (Table 4); high number of subdigital lamellae under the fourth finger (7–10 versus 5) and high number of supralabials in front of subcocular (6–7 versus 5). |
| Comment | Habitat: terrestrial diurnal species that lives within loose debris or holes, decomposing logs or grass stocks, under loose stones and similar micro-habitats. |
| Etymology | The specific epithet “tsavoensis” refers to the name of the type locality, Tsavo National Park. The name is in the masculine form. |
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