Trachylepis albopunctata (Bocage, 1867)

Conradie, Werner, Keates, Chad, Verburgt, Luke, Baptista, Ninda L., Harvey, James, Júlio, Timóteo & Neef, Götz, 2022, Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi River drainages. Part 2: Lizards (Sauria), chelonians, and crocodiles, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 322) 16 (2), pp. 181-214 : 201

Trachylepis albopunctata (Bocage, 1867)

White-spotted Variable Skink ( Fig. 30 , Map 27) Material (15 specimens): PEM R 23256–8, south of Menongue en route to Cuebe River, -14.96288° 17.69089°, 1,300 m asl; PEM R 23265, INBAC (no number), Cuchi River gorge, -14.59° 16.90758°, 1,350 m asl; PEM R 23344–5, 10 km west of Cuemba village, -12.03481° 18.04869°, 1,437 m asl; PEM R 23355, Stop 2: road to Cuito River source, -12.2823° 18.6291°, 1,487 m asl; PEM R 23379, Kuvango River hydro plant site, -14.38775° 16.29365°, 1,429 m asl; PEM R 23389, INBAC: WC-5207, Cubango River campsite 2 near mission, -13.32887° 16.41167°, 1,520 m asl; PEM R 23390, Cubango River, campsite 1 below rapids, west of Fundo village, -13.04483° 16.3752°, 1,557 m asl; PEM R 23479, Quembo River source trap 4, -13.13586° 19.04709°, 1,369 m asl; PEM R 23543, EN140 North of Menongue, -13.84775° 17.25308°, 1,503 m asl. Description: Dorsal scales with three keels each; 30–35 (33) midbody scale rows; 44–47 (45) transverse ventral scale rows; 47–55 (51) transverse dorsal scale rows; 4–6 (5) supralabials; 6–7 (6) infralabials; 4–7 (5) supraciliaries; 19–21 (20) subdigital lamellae under 4 th toe. Largest specimen: 55.6 + 92.0 mm ( PEM R 23265). Habitat and natural history notes: Diurnal species found active in miombo woodland. Comment: Part of the larger Trachylepis varia group ( Weinell and Bauer 2018; Weinell et al. 2019). Two species of this group occur in Angola: T. damarana , known only from southeastern Angola, and T. albopunctata , from the central and coastal regions of Angola. The two species can be separated by head scalation and coloration. In T. albopunctata , the parietals are mostly in contact anterior of the interparietal (13 out of 19 specimens examined), mostly five supralabials (average 4.6, n = 22) that are darkedged anteriorly, and a mostly uniform dark brown dorsum with less white speckling compared to T. damarana .

Figures

Fig. 30. Adult unsexed Trachylepis albopunctata (PEM R23256) from south of Menongue. Photo by Werner Conradie.