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- Title
A REVISION OF SUB-SAHARAN CHALCIDES (SQUAMATA: SCINCIDAE), WITH REDESCRIPTIONS OF TWO EAST AFRICAN SPECIES.
- Authors
Greenbaum, Eli; Campbell, Andrew C.; Raxworthy, Christopher J.
- Abstract
There has been little recent work on the sub-Saharan species of the African and Eurasian genus Chalcides, possibly because the morphology of the genus seems to be highly conserved and specimens are generally rare. As a result, there is a lack of consensus concerning the taxonomic status and distributions of these species in the literature. Herein, we expand upon the brief original descriptions of C. bottegi and C. ragazzii, which we consider to be valid and allopatrically distributed species (separated by the Ethiopian highlands). Examination of populations previously assigned to C. ragazzii in the south-central Saharan highlands and the West African Niger River floodplain indicates that these populations are most similar to populations of C. ocellatus, and we assign them to this widespread, variable species. A disjunct populations of C. ocellatus in Somalia is separated from its nearest conspecifies by the Ethiopian highlands and the Indian Ocean; however, we did not find morphological evidence to recognize it as a distinct species. All three species of Chalcides are readily distinguishable from the West African endemics C. armitagei, C. pulchellus, and C. thierryi, which are the only other sub-Saharan representatives for the genus. An identification key is provided for all six sub-Saharan Chalcides species.
- Subjects
EAST Africa; CHALCIDES; SKINKS; ANIMAL species; ANIMAL morphology
- Publication
Herpetologica, 2006, Vol 62, Issue 1, p71
- ISSN
0018-0831
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1655/05-14.1