Spondylurus semitaeniatus (WIEGMANN, 1837)
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Spondylurus semitaeniatus
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Mabuyinae (Mabuyini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Lesser Virgin Islands Skink |
| Synonym | Euprepes semitaeniatus WIEGMANN 1837:135 Gongylus (Eumeces) agilis — REINHARDT & LUETKEN, 1863:229 (part) Euprepes semitaeniatus — PETERS 1864:50 E[uprepes] semitaeniatus — PETERS 1871:400 (part) Mabuya sloanii — BOCOURT 1879:401 (part) Mabuia sloanii — BOULENGER 1887:193 (part). Mabuya semitaeniata — STEJNEGER 1904:610 (claimed as distinct species) Mabuya sloanii — BARBOUR 1914:320 (part) Mabuya sloanii — SCHMIDT 1928:121 (part) Mabuya sloanii — BARBOUR 1930:105 (part) Mabuya semitaeniatus — GRANT 1931:218 Mabuya mabouia — BARBOUR 1935:129 (part) Mabuya mabouya sloanii — DUNN 1936:544 (part.) Mabuya mabouia — BARBOUR 1937:147 (part) Mabuya mabouya sloanei — SCHWARTZ & THOMAS 1975:141 (part) Mabuya mabouya sloanei — MACLEAN et al. 1977:30–35 (part) Mabuya mabouya sloanei — HEATWOLE et al. 1981:34 (part) Mabuya mabouya sloanei — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1988:151 (part) Mabuya mabouya sloanei — SCHWARTZ & HENDERSON 1991:457 (part) Mabuya bistriata — POWELL et al. 1996:82 (part) Mabuya sloanii — MAYER & LAZELL 2000:883 (part) Mabuya sloanii — MIRALLES 2005:49 (part) Mabuya sloanii — HENDERSON & POWELL 2009:293 (part) Spondylurus semitaeniatus — HEDGES & CONN 2012: 194 |
| Distribution | US and British Virgin Islands (incl. St. Thomas, Capella, Little Buck); British Virgin Islands (Fallen Jerusalem Ginger Island, Great Camanoe Island, Guana Island, Little Thatch Island, Mosquito Island, Necker Island, Round Rock, Salt Island, Tortola, Virgin Gorda) Type locality: "America" |
| Reproduction | viviparous (phylogenetic imputation, fide Zimin et al. 2022) |
| Types | Holotype: ZMB 1238, from "America," ex. coll. Marcus Elieser Bloch (see HEDGES & CONN 2012); holotype clarified as ZMB 1238, same specimen as examined by Schneider (1801:181), for syntype of Scincus auratus; originally from collection of Bloch). ZMB 5290 has been erroneously listed as type by several authors. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Spondylurus semitaeniatus is characterized by (1) maximum SVL in males, 74.7 mm; (2) maximum SVL in females, 82.9 mm; (3) snout width, 1.99–3.27% SVL; (4) head length, 15.8–19.4% SVL; (5) head width, 11.9–16.2% SVL; (6) ear length, 0.953–2.27% SVL; (7) toe-IV length, 8.33–12.0% SVL; (8) prefrontals, two (98%), four (2%); (9) supraoculars, three (1%), four (99%); (10) supraciliaries, three (2%), four (98%); (11) frontoparietals, two; (12) supralabial below the eye, five (28%), six (72%); (13) nuchal rows, one (14%), two (80%), three (6%); (14) dorsals, 57–65; (15) ventrals, 59–70; (16) dorsals + ventrals, 119–134; (17) midbody scale rows, 31–34; (18) finger-IV lamellae, 10–15; (19) toe-IV lamellae, 13–19; (20) finger-IV + toe-IV lamellae, 23–33; (21) supranasal contact, Y (96%), N (4%); (22) prefrontal contact, N; (23) supraocular-1/frontal contact, Y (38%), N (62%); (24) parietal contact, Y (98%), N (2%); (25) pale middorsal stripe, Y; (26) dark dorsolateral stripe, Y; (27) dark lateral stripe, Y; (28) pale lateral stripe, Y; and (29) palms and soles, pale (Tables 3–5). Unfortunately 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 4138 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Synonymy: after HEDGES & CONN 2012 who revived this species from synonymy. For instance, Dunn, 1936:544 and Schwartz & Thomas, 1975:141 placed Euprepes semitaeniatus in the synonymy of Mabuya mabouya sloanii. Distribution: erroneously reported from Culebra and Mona. Conservation status: endangered (Adkins-Giese et al. 2014). Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. |
| Etymology | Not provided in the original description. However, the species name (semitaeniatus) is a feminine singular adjective derived from the Latin semi (half) and taenia (ribbon, stripe), hence half-striped, referring quite accurately to the dorsal pattern of this species, although such a pattern is shared with most other species in the Genus Spondylurus. |
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