Scincus Laurenti, 1768

Scincus scincus (Linnaeus, 1758)

HOLOTYPE. NHRM 141 a; Syntypes BMNH 1946.8.20.55–57 (ex. BMNH 79.8.15.1–3) (S. s. conirostris) .

TYPE LOCALITY. “in montosis Lybiae, Aegypti, Arabiae petreae” [= in the mountains of Libya, Egypt, and Sinai].

DISTRIBUTION. North Africa from Algeria and Niger along the Mediterranean coast through Tunisia, Libya, Egypt to Israel, Syria, Jordan and western part of the Arabian Peninsula to SW Iran.

DISTRIBUTION IN IRAN. Fig. 139. Khuzestan and Bushehr Prov. There are enigmatic records in central Sistan and Baluchistan Prov. separated from other known localities by a distance of about 1000 km. Nevertheless, owing to that the voucher specimens are deposited in different collections (CAS, SUHC) and were collected by different people, the records seem reliable .

HABITAT. A typical sand-swimmer confined to loose sand habitat on sand dunes and windblown sandy patches.

REMARKS. The subspecies S. s. conirostris Blanford (type locality Tangyak, 7 miles south of Bushire [Bushehr], Bushehr Prov.) inhabiting the eastern portion of the Arabian Peninsula occurs in Iran .

REFERENCES. Arnold & Leviton (1977); Anderson (1999).