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Trachylepis megalura (PETERS, 1878)

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Mabuyinae (Mabuyini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Grass Skink, Grass-top skink, Long-tailed Skink
G: Langschwanzskink 
SynonymEuprepes (Mabuia) megalurus PETERS 1878: 203
Eumeces massaianus FISCHER 1884: 18
Mabuia megalura — TORNIER 1897: 43
Mabuia megalura — NEUMANN 1905
Mabuia megalura — SCORTECCI 1931: 11
Mabuia massaiana — WITTE 1933
Mabuya megalura — LOVERIDGE 1936: 68
Mabuya megalura — GREER et al. 2000
Mabuya megalura — BROADLEY & HOWELL 1991: 15
Mabuya megalura — BAUER et al. 1995: 62
Euprepis megalurus — MAUSFELD et al. 2002
Trachylepis megalura — BAUER 2003
Euprepis megalura — LANTERMANN & LANTERMANN 2009
Mabuya megalura — LARGEN & SPAWLS 2010: 395
Trachylepis megalura — SPAWLS et al. 2018: 143
Trachylepis cf. megalura — MARQUES et al. 2018 
DistributionEthiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique (limit just south of Zambezi River), Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, E/S Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire), probably in Republic of South Sudan (RSS) (L. Chirio, pers. comm.), Zambia, elevation up to 3000 m.

Type locality: “Taita”, Kenya.  
Reproductionviviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) 
TypesSyntypes: ZMB 9281, 9304
Holotype: ZMH R02837 [Eumeces massaianus] 
Diagnosis 
CommentSynonymy: Earlier authors considered Trachylepis megalura (Neumann 1905; Meek 1910; Loveridge 1920, 1936) and T. massaiana (de Witte 1933) as valid taxa. De Witte (1933) suggested that the length of the tail (more than two times the snout-vent length in T. megalura and less than that in T. massaiana) was a sufficient character to distinguish the two, but later he synonymized T. massaiana with T. megalura (de Witte 1953), an opinion subsequently followed unanimously by authors dealing with these animals (e.g., Broadley & Howell 1991; Broadley 2000; Broadley & Cotterill 2004; Lantermann & Lantermann 2008; Spawls et al. 2004, 2006, 2018).

Distribution: for records from Ethiopia see map in Koppetsch 2020: 118 (Fig. 2). Not in Angola fide Ceriaco et al. 2024 (revision Angolan Trachylepis). 
References
  • Angel, Fernand 1925. Résultats Scientifiques. Vertebrata. Reptiles et Batraciens. [Mabuia (Mabuiopsis) jeanneli, Lygosoma graueri quinquedigitata, Ablepharus massaiensis]. In: Voyage de Ch. Alluaud et R. Jeannel en Afrique Orientale (1911-1912). - Paris, 2: 1-63.
  • Bates, Michael F. 2018. Catalogue of reptiles from Mozambique in the collection of the National Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa. Indago 34 (2): 135–147
  • Behangana, M.; C. Aluziyo, D dendi, L. Luiselli, D. F. Hughes, E. Greenbaum 2019. HERPETOFAUNAL DIVERSITY AND COMMUNITY STRUCTURE AT LAKE NABUGABO AND SURROUNDING RAMSAR AREA WETLANDS IN SOUTHERN UGANDA. Vie et milieu - life and environment 69 (2-3): 1-N - get paper here
  • Broadley, D. G. & HOWELL, K. M. 1991. A check list of the reptiles of Tanzania, with synoptic keys. Syntarsus 1: 1—70
  • Broadley, D.G. 1986. Geographical Distribution - Mabuya megalura. J. Herp. Assoc. Africa (32): 30-30 - get paper here
  • Broadley, D.G. 1998. The reptilian fauna of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo-Kinshasa). In: Schmidt, K.P. and Noble, G.K., Contributions to the Herpetology of the Belgian Congo... [reprint of the 1919 and 1923 papers]. SSAR Facsimile reprints in Herpetology, 780 pp.
  • Broadley, D.G. 2000. A review of the genus Mabuya in southeastern Africa (Sauria: Scincidae). African Journal of Herpetology, 49 (2): 87-110 - get paper here
  • Broadley, Donald G. and F. P. D. Cotterill. 2004. The reptiles of southeast Katanga, an overlooked 'hot spot'. [Congo]. African Journal of Herpetology 53 (1): 35-61. - get paper here
  • Chirio, L. & I. INEICH 2001. Description d'un nouveau scincidé endémique des montagnes du Cameroun (Lacertilia: Mabuya mekuana). Bull. Soc. zool. Fr., 125(3): 185-196 [2000, see Fretey 2023]
  • Fischer, J. G. 1884. Über einige afrikanische Reptilien, Amphibien und Fische des Naturhistorischen Museums I. Über die von Herrn Dr. G.A. Fischer in Massai Gebiete (Ost Afrika) auf seiner in Veranlassung der geographischen Gesellschaft in Hamburg unternommenen Expeditio Jahrb. Hamburg Wiss. Anst. 1: 1-32 - get paper here
  • Greer, A.E., Arnold, C. & Arnold, E.N. 2000. The systematic significance of the number of presacral vertebrae in the scincid lizard genus Mabuya. Amphibia-Reptilia 21 (1): 121-126 - get paper here
  • Haagner,G.V.; Branch,W.R. & Haagner,A.J.F. 2000. Notes on a collection of reptiles from Zambia and adjacent areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Annals of the Eastern Cape Museum 1: 1 – 25
  • Kingdon, R. & Spawls, S. 2010. A new gregarious species of Trachylepis (Reptilia: Sauria: Scincidae) from Lolui Island, Lake Victoria, Uganda, with a key to Ugandan Trachylepis. African Journal of Herpetology 59 (2): 123-132 - get paper here
  • Koppetsch T. 2020. A new species of Trachylepis (Squamata: Scincidae) from the Amhara Region, Ethiopia, and a key to the Ethiopian Trachylepis. . doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4859.1.4. PMID: 33056207 Zootaxa 4859 (1): 113-126 - get paper here
  • Lantermann, W. & Lantermann, Y. 2009. Herpetologische Reiseeindrücke aus den Ost-Usambara-Bergen in Tanzania. Elaphe 17 (2): 53-61
  • Lantermann, W. & Y. Lantermann 2008. Skinke in den Usambara-Bergen im Nordosten Tansanias. Reptilia (Münster) 13 (71): 75-77 - get paper here
  • Largen, M.J.; Spawls, S. 2006. Lizards of Ethiopia (Reptilia Sauria): an annotated checklist, bibliography, gazetteer and identification. Tropical Zoology 19 (1): 21-109 - get paper here
  • Largen, M.J.; Spawls, S. 2010. Amphibians and Reptiles of Ethiopia and Eritrea. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt, 694 pp.
  • Laurent, R.F. 1964. Reptiles et batraciens de l'Angola (troisième contribution). Companhia de Di amantes de Angola (Diamang), Serviços Culturais, Museu do Dundo (Angola), No. 67, 165 pp.
  • Loveridge, A. 1920. Notes on East African lizards collected 1915-1919, with description of a new genus and species of skink and new subspecies of gecko. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1920: 131-167 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1936. African reptiles and amphibians in the Field Museum of Natural History. Zool. Ser. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Chicago, 22 (1): 1-122 - get paper here
  • Malonza, Patrick K.; David M. Mulwa, Joash O. Nyamache, Georgina Jones 2017. Biogeography of the Shimba Hills ecosystem herpetofauna in Kenya. Zoological Research 38(5): 1-11 - get paper here
  • Marques, Mariana P.; Luis M. P. Ceríaco , David C. Blackburn , and Aaron M. Bauer 2018. Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola -- Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840–2017). Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (Ser. 4) 65: 1-501 (Supplement II)
  • MARQUES, MARIANA P.; LUIS M. P. CERÍACO, SUZANA BANDEIRA, OLIVIER S. G. PAUWELS, AARON M. BAUER 2019. Description of a new long-tailed skink (Scincidae: Trachylepis) from Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zootaxa 4568 (1): 051–068 - get paper here
  • Meek, Seth Eugene;Cory, Charles B. 1910. Batrachians and reptiles from British East Africa. Publication of the Field Museum of Natural history 7 (11): 403-414 - get paper here
  • Muchai, Vincent & Patrick Malonza 2011. The reptiles and amphibians of Kibwezi Forest, Ngulia and Chyulu Hills. Kenya Past and Present (39): 45-49 - get paper here
  • Neumann, Oscar Rudolph 1905. Über nordost-afrikanische und arabische Kriechtiere. Zool. Jahrb. Syst., 22: 389-404. - get paper here
  • Peters,W.C.H. 1878. Über die von Hrn. J. M. Hildebrandt während seiner letzten ostafrikanischen Reise gesammelten Säugethiere und Amphibien. Mber. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1878: 194-209 - get paper here
  • Pietersen, Darren, Verburgt, Luke & Davies, John 2021. Snakes and other reptiles of Zambia and Malawi. Struik Nature / Penguin Random House South Africa, 376 pp., ISBN 9781775847373
  • Scortecci, Giuseppe 1931. Contributo alla conoscenza dei rettili e degli anfibi della Somalia, dell'Eritrea e dell'Abissinia. Boll. Mus. Zool. Univ. Torino, (ser. 3) 41 (10): 1-26 [1930]
  • Sindaco, R., Metallinou, M., Pupin, F., Fasola, M. & Carranza, S. 2012. Forgotten in the ocean: systematics, biogeography and evolution of the Trachylepis skinks of the Socotra Archipelago. Zoologica Scripta - get paper here
  • Spawls, S. & Rotich, D. 1997. An annotated checklist of the lizards of Kenya. J. East African Nat. Hist. 86: 61-83
  • Spawls, S.; Howell, K.; Drewes, R.C. & Ashe, J. 2002. A field guide to the reptiles of East Africa. Academic Press, 543 pp. [reviews in HR 34: 396 and Afr. J. Herp. 51; 147] - get paper here
  • Spawls, Stephen; Tomáš Mazuch & Abubakr Mohammad 2023. Handbook of Amphibians and Reptiles of North-east Africa. Bloomsbury, 640 pp. - get paper here
  • Spawls, Steve; Kim Howell, Harald Hinkel, Michele Menegon 2018. Field Guide to East African Reptiles. Bloomsbury, 624 pp. - get paper here
  • Tornier, G. 1905. Schildkröten und Eidechsen aus Nord-Ost Afrika und Arabien. Aus Carlo v. Erlanger’s und Oscar Neumann’s Forschungsreise. Zool. Jahrb. Syst. 22: 365-388 - get paper here
  • Tornier,G. 1897. Die Kriechthiere Deutsch-Ostafrikas. Beiträge zur Systematik und Descendenzlehre. D. Reimer, Berlin, 164 pp. - get paper here
  • Witte, G. F. de 1933. Reptiles récoltés au Conge Belge par le Dr. H. Schouteden et par M. G.-F. Witte. Ann. Mus. Conge belge Zool. Ser. 1 Tome III: 53-100.
  • Zimin, A., Zimin, S. V., Shine, R., Avila, L., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., Barki, G., de Oliveira Caetano, G. H., Castro Herrera, F., Chapple, D. G., Chirio, L., Colli, G. R., Doan, T. M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L. L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton 2022. A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–16 - get paper here
 
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