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Sepsophis punctatus BEDDOME, 1870

IUCN Red List - Sepsophis punctatus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaScincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Spotted Eastern Ghats skink 
SynonymSepsophis punctatus BEDDOME 1870: 172
Sepophis punctatus [sic] — BOULENGER 1887: 423
Sepsophis punctatus — SMITH 1935: 353
Sepsophis punctatus — DAS 1996: 48
Sepsophis punctatus — DATTA-ROY et al. 2013 
DistributionIndia (Odisha, Andhra Pradesh)

Type locality: Darakondah, Golconda Hills, Madras Pres.; ““Darakondah on the Golcondah hills near Vizagapatnam” (= Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh state, India), 914 m elevation fide DATTA-ROY et al. 2013.  
Reproduction 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.8.21.30 
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 767 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentKnown only from the type specimen and 4 specimens found 137 years after the original description (Datta-Roy et al. 2013).

Type species: Sepsophis punctatus BEDDOME 1870: 172 is the type species of the genus Sepsophis BEDDOME 1870.

Phylogenetics: Sepsophis is relatively closely related to Barkudia (Datta-Roy et al. 2024) 
EtymologyNamed after the punctate pattern that many specimens show in this species.

The genus name was not explained by Beddome (1870), but almost certainly from the combination of the Greek Seps (snake, but commonly used as the base name for genera of elongate skinks) plus Greek ophis (snake), in allusion to the snake-like form of this skink. 
References
  • Aengals, R.; V.M. Sathish Kumar & Muhamed Jafer Palot 2013. Updated Checklist of Indian Reptiles. Privately published, 24 pp.
  • Beddome, R. H. 1870. Descriptions of new reptiles from the Madras Presidency. Madras Monthly J. Med. Sci., 2: 169-176 [Reprint.: J. Soc. Bibliogr. Nat. Sci., London, 1 (10): 327-334, 1940]
  • Boulenger, G. A. 1887. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) III. Lacertidae, Gerrhosauridae, Scincidae, Anelytropsidae, Dibamidae, Chamaeleontidae. London: 575 pp. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, George A. 1890. The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London, xviii, 541 pp. - get paper here
  • Datta-Roy, ANIRUDDHA; PRATYUSH P. MOHAPATRA, SUSHIL K. DUTTA, VARAD B. GIRI, DEEPAK VEERAPPAN, SIMON T. MADDOCK, PRUDHVI RAJ, ISHAN AGARWAL, PRAVEEN KARANTH 2013. A long-lost relic from the Eastern Ghats: Morphology, distribution and habitat of Sepsophis punctatus Beddome, 1870 (Squamata: Scincidae). Zootaxa 3670: 55-62 - get paper here
  • Datta‐Roy, A., Brandley, M., Austin, C., Bauer, A., Harris, D., Carranza, S., ... & Sil, M. 2024. The Contemporary Distribution of Scincine Lizards Does Not Reflect Their Biogeographic Origin. Journal of Biogeography 52: 767-779 (print 2025) - get paper here
  • Dutta, S.K., M.V. Nair, P.P. Mohapatra and A.K. Mahapatra. 2009. Amphibians and reptiles of Similipal Biosphere Reserve. Regional Plant Resouce Centre, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India - get paper here
  • Langner, Christian 2022. „Die Rache der Ameisen“ – Ein selten dokumentiertes Beispiel für die Umkehr des Beutegreifer-Opfer-Verhältnisses bei einer überwiegend myrmecophagen Reptilienart. [“The revenge of the ants” – A rarely documented example of predator/prey reversal in a predominantly myrmecophagous reptile species] Sauria 44 (4): 49-52
  • Smith, M.A. 1935. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Reptiles and Amphibia, Vol. II. Sauria. Taylor and Francis, London, 440 pp.
  • Venu, G., Balakrishna, G. N., Chandrasekhara, V., Mallikarjuna, N. A., Seetharama, H. G., Raju, N. G., ... & Ganesh, S. R. 2024. On further specimens of the Spotted Eastern Ghats Skink Sepsophis punctatus Beddome, 1870 (Squamata: Scincidae) from Ananthagiri hills, Northern Eastern Ghats, India. Zootaxa 5424(3), 396-400 - get paper here
  • Venugopal, P.D. 2010. An updated and annotated list of Indian lizards (Reptilia: Sauria) based on a review of distribution records and checklists of Indian reptiles. Journal of Threatened Taxa 2 (3): 725-738. - get paper here
 
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