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Spondylurus spilonotus (WIEGMANN, 1837)

IUCN Red List - Spondylurus spilonotus - Critically Endangered, CR
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Higher TaxaScincidae, Mabuyinae (Mabuyini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Greater Virgin Islands Skink 
SynonymEuprepes spilonotus WIEGMANN 1837: 135
Euprepes spilonotus — PETERS, 1864: 50
Eupr[epes] spilonotus — PETERS, 1871: 400
Euprepes (Mabuia) spilonotus — PETERS, 1876: 708 (part)
Euprepes spilonotus — GUNDLACH, 1881: 311 (part).
Mabuia sloanii — BOULENGER, 1887: 193 (part)
M[abuya] spilonotus — STEJNEGER, 1904: 609–10
Mabuya sloanii — BARBOUR, 1914: 355 (part)
Mabuya spilonota — BARBOUR, 1914: 355
Mabuya sloanii — SCHMIDT, 1928: 121 (part)
Mabuya sloanii — BARBOUR, 1930: 105 (part)
Mabuya mabouia — BARBOUR, 1935: 129 (part)
Mabuya mabouya sloanii — DUNN, 1936: 544 (part)
Mabuya mabouia — BARBOUR, 1937: 147 (part)
Mabuya sp. — GRANT, 1937: 512 (part)
Mabuya spilonotus — GRANT, 1940: 111
Mabuya spilonotus — MURRAY, 1949: 128
Mabuya spilonota — COCHRAN, 1961: 126
Mabuya spilonota — HORTON, 1973: 85
Mabuya mabouya sloanei — SCHWARTZ & THOMAS, 1975: 141 (part)
Mabuya mabouya sloanei — MACLEAN et al., 1977: 30 (part)
Mabuya mabouya sloanei — MACLEAN et al., 1977: 32 (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 — HENDERSON & POWELL, 2009: 293 (part)
Spondylurus spilonotus — HEDGES & CONN 2012: 207 
DistributionUS Virgin Islands (St. John, St. Thomas)

Type locality: not given; probably St. Thomas or St. John (see HEDGES & CONN 2012 for a discussion).  
Reproduction 
TypesLectotype: ZMB 1240; Stejneger 1904 listed it incorrectly as ZMB 3785 and Dunn (1936) as “ZMB 3758", an error copied by several other authors. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Spondylurus spilonotus is characterized by (1) maximum SVL in males, 91.7 mm; (2) maximum SVL in females, 106.5 mm; (3) snout width, 2.74–3.05% SVL; (4) head length, 15.4–18.5% SVL; (5) head width, 12.0–13.9% SVL; (6) ear length, 1.76–2.05% SVL; (7) toe-IV length, 7.30–10.5% SVL; (8) prefrontals, two; (9) supraoculars, four; (10) supraciliaries, four; (11) frontoparietals, two; (12) supralabial below the eye, six; (13) nuchal rows, two (67%), three (33%); (14) dorsals, 62–64; (15) ventrals, 63–68; (16) dorsals + ventrals, 125–132; (17) midbody scale rows, 34; (18) finger-IV lamellae, 13–15; (19) toe-IV lamellae, 16–18; (20) finger-IV + toe-IV lamellae, 29–33; (21) supranasal contact, N; (22) prefrontal contact, N; (23) supraocular-1/frontal contact, Y (17%), N (83%); (24) parietal contact, Y; (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).


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CommentSynonymy: HEDGES & CONN 2012

Distribution: erroneously reported from Jamaica by several authors, e.g. Grant 1940: 111.

Conservation: Critically Endangered and possibly extinct (CR A2ace) (Adkins-Giese et al. 2014).

Abundance: Rare. This is one of the species called 'lost' and 'rediscovered' by Lindken et al. 2024. 
EtymologyNot provided in the original description. However, the species name (spilonotus) is a Latinized noun in the nominative singular derived from the Greek nouns spilos (spot, stain) and notos (the back), referring to the distinctly spotted dorsal pattern of this species. When combined with Mabuya (feminine) instead of Euprepes or Spondylurus (masculine), some authors (Barbour 1914; Cochran 1961; Horton 1973) converted the gender of the species name to feminine, whereas others retained it as masculine. As it is a noun and not an adjective, it retains the original (masculine) spelling, regardless of the gender of the genus [HEDGES & CONN 2012]. 
References
  • Adkins-Giese, C.L., Curry, T., Platenberg, R. 2014. PETITION TO LIST NINE SPECIES OF CARIBBEAN SKINKS AS ENDANGERED UNDER THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT. CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY, 61 pp. - get paper here
  • Barbour, T. 1935. A second list of Antillean reptiles and amphibians. Zoologica 19 (3): 77-141 - get paper here
  • Barbour, Thomas 1914. A Contribution to the Zoögeography of the West Indies, with Especial Reference to Amphibians and Reptiles. Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zoölogy 44 (2): 205-359 - get paper here
  • Barbour, Thomas 1930. Some faunistic changes in the Lesser Antilles. Proc. New England Zool. Club 11: 73-85
  • Barbour, Thomas 1930. A list of Antillean Reptiles and Amphibians. Zoologica 11 (4): 61-116 - get paper here
  • Barbour,T. 1937. Third list of Antillean reptiles and amphibians. Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harvard 82 (2): 77-166 - get paper here
  • 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
  • Cochran, Doris M. 1961. Type specimens of reptiles and amphibians in the United States National Museum. [type catalogue] Bull. US Natl. Mus. (220): xvi + 291 pp. - get paper here
  • Grant, C. 1937. Herpetological notes with new species from the American and British Virgin Islands, 1936. J. Dept. Agric. Puerto Rico 21: 503-522.
  • Grant, C. 1940. The herpetology of Jamaica Il. The reptiles. Bull. Inst. Jamaica., Sci. Ser. 1: 61-148.
  • Hedges, S.B. & Conn, C.E. 2012. A new skink fauna from Caribbean islands (Squamata, Mabuyidae, Mabuyinae). Zootaxa 3288: 1–244 - get paper here
  • Henderson, Robert W. & Robert Powell 2009. NATURAL HISTORY OF WEST INDIAN REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS. University Press of Florida, 576 pp.
  • HORTON, D. R. 1973. Evolution in the genus Mabuya (Lacertilia, Scincidae). Unpubl. Ph.D.Thesis, University of New England, Armidale, Australia
  • Lindken T.; Anderson, C. V., Ariano-Sánchez, D., Barki, G., Biggs, C., Bowles, P., Chaitanya, R., Cronin, D. T., Jähnig, S. C., Jeschke, J. M., Kennerley, R. J., Lacher, T. E. Jr., Luedtke, J. A., Liu, C., Long, B., Mallon, D., Martin, G. M., Meiri, 2024. What factors influence the rediscovery of lost tetrapod species? Global Change Biology, 30: 1-18 - get paper here
  • Maclean, William P. 1977. Island lists of West Indian amphibians and reptiles. Smithsonian Herp. Inf. Serv. (40): 1-47 - get paper here
  • Mayer, G.C. & Lazell, J. 2000. A new species of Mabuya (Sauria: Scincidae) from the British Virgin Islands. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 113 (4): 871-886 - get paper here
  • Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig 1871. Über eine von Hrn. Dr. Robert Abendroth in dem Hochlande von Peru gemachte Sammlung von Amphibien, welche derselbe dem Königl. zoologischen Museum geschenkt hat. Monatsber. königl. Akad. Wiss. Berlin. 1871 (August): 397-404 - get paper here
  • Peters,W.C.H. 1864. Die Eidechsenfamilie der Scincoiden, insbesondere über die Schneider'schen, Wiegmann'schen und neue Arten des zoologischen Museums. Monatsber. K. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1864: 44-58 - get paper here
  • Powell, R., R. W. Henderson, K. Adler, And H. A. Dundee. 1996. An annotated checklist of West Indian amphibians and reptiles. In R. Powell and R. W. Henderson (eds.), Contributions to West Indian Herpetology: A Tribute to Albert Schwartz, p.51-93. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca (New York). Contributions to Herpetology, volume 12. [book review in Salamandra 36 (2): 136]
  • Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1988. West Indian Amphibian and Reptiles: A Checklist. Milwaukee Publ. Mus. Contr. Biol. Geol. No. 74: 264 pp. - get paper here
  • Schwartz, A. & Henderson, R.W. 1991. Amphibians and Reptiles of the West Indies. University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 720 pp.
  • Schwartz, A. and R. Thomas. 1975. A checklist of West Indian amphibians and reptiles. Carnegie Mus. Nat. Hist. Spec. Publ. 1:1-216. - get paper here
  • Stejneger, L. 1904. The herpetology of Porto Rico. Rept. United States Natl. Mus. 1902: 549-724. - get paper here
  • Wiegmann, A. F. A. 1837. Herpetologische Notizen. Archiv für Naturgeschichte 3: 123-136 - get paper here
 
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