Mochlus sundevallii (Smith, 1849)

Santos, Bruna S., Marques, Mariana P., Bauer, Aaron M. & Ceríaco, Luis M. P., 2021, Herpetological results of Francisco Newton’s Zoological Expedition to Angola (1903 – 1906): a taxonomic revision and new records of a forgotten collection, Zootaxa 5028 (1), pp. 1-80 : 23

Mochlus sundevallii (Smith, 1849)

Material (eleven specimens): Two adult specimens (MHNCUP/REP 199–200, formerly UP-MHNFCP-094984– 094985; Fig. S36 ), collected from unknown location, date unknown; six adult specimens (MHNCUP/REP 253– 258), collected from unknown locality, date unknown; one adult specimen (MHNCUP/REP 259, formerly UP- MHNFCP-052199), collected from Bahia dos Tigres [= Baía dos Tigres] [-16.58559º, 11.82709º, 98 m a.s.l.] Namibe Province, in 1905 ; one adult specimen (MHNCUP/REP 260, formerly UP-MHNFCP-017382), collected from Sul de Angola [= Southern Angola] (impossible to georeference), date unknown ; one adult specimen (MHNCUP/REP 261, formerly UP-MHNFCP-017383), collected from Bahia dos Tigres [= Baía dos Tigres] [-16.58559º, 11.82709º, 98 m a.s.l.] Namibe Province, in 1905 .

Comments: Mochlus sundevallii is a species endemic to Africa ( Bates et al. 2014), that occurs across the sub- Saharan region, namely north to Uganda, south to South Africa, east to Kenya and Tanzania and west to Namibia and southern Angola ( Freitas et al. 2018; Marques et al. 2018). No M. sundevallii from the Newton expedition were cited by Ferreira. MHNCUP/REP 259 is the first published record for the species from “Bahia dos Tigres”. Mochlus sundevallii was previously considered part of the genus Lygosoma , but the name has been restricted to Asia ( Wagner et al. 2009). In a recent study on the M. afer-sundevallii s pecies complex, Freitas et al. (2018) did not find conclusive evidence to distinguish Mochlus afer (Peters, 1854) and M. sundevalli , suggesting the use of M. sundevallii as the valid name for the widespread lineage across sub-Saharan Africa. Later, Freitas et al. (2019) expanded the content of Mochlus to include all African writhing skinks.

Figures

FIGURE S36. Specimen of Mochlus sundevallii (MHNC-UP/REP200), from unknown locality. Photo by Bruna Santos.