Trachylepis varia (Peters, 1867)

Conradie, Werner, Bittencourt-Silva, Gabriela B., Engelbrecht, Hanlie M., Loader, Simon P., Menegon, Michele, Nanvonamuquitxo, Cristovao, Scott, Michael & Tolley, Krystal A., 2016, Exploration into the hidden world of Mozambique's sky island forests: new discoveries of reptiles and amphibians, Zoosystematics and Evolution 92 (2), pp. 163-180 : 172

Trachylepis varia (Peters, 1867)

Material

Mt. Mabu ( PEM R21151 , male, 58.6 mm SVL), Mt. Namuli ( PEM R21179 , female, 52.7 mm SVL; PEM R21180 , female, 51.1 mm SVL; PEM R21181 , female, 59.4 mm SVL; PEM R21182 , female, 60.7 mm SVL; PEM R21183 , male, 49.3 mm SVL; PEM R21185 , male, 53.8 mm SVL), Mt. M’pàluwé ( PEM R21198 , male, 57.6 mm SVL) .

Comments

Specimens from Mts. Mabu and M’pàluwé represent the plain tan brown dorsum coloration with dark-edged white lateral line and uniform beige ventrum, while the montane grassland population of the Murteha Plateau of Mt. Namuli have the dorsum greenish with five finely striped white lines, and ventrally a bluish darker colouration. Broadley (2000) also refers to the fact that montane populations differs in size, scalation, and colour. Further taxonomical work is needed to resolve the status of these montane populations.