Panaspis mundavambo, P. Marques & Parrinha & Lopes-Lima & Tiutenko & Bauer & Ceríaco, 2024

P. Marques, Mariana, Parrinha, Diogo, Lopes-Lima, Manuel, Tiutenko, Arthur, Bauer, Aaron M. & Ceríaco, Luis M. P., 2024, A treasure trove of endemics: two new species of snake-eyed skinks of the genus Panaspis Cope, 1868 (Squamata, Scincidae) from the Serra da Neve Inselberg, southwestern Angola, Evolutionary Systematics 8 (2), pp. 167-182 : 167-182

Panaspis mundavambo sp. nov.

Figs 6 , 9 , 10

Holotype.

MUNHAC / MB 03-1527 (field number LMPC 3242), unsexed adult, from the MPLA post near Catchi , Serra da Neve (- 13.7618, 13.2514, 1614 m), Namibe Province, Republic of Angola, collected by Mariana P. Marques, Diogo Parrinha, Arthur Tiutenko and Luis M. P. Ceríaco on 31 October 2022 (Fig. 9 ).

Diagnosis.

Panaspis mundavambo sp. nov. can be distinguished from other members of the genus by the following combination of characters: 1) absence of supranasals; 2) ablepharine eye (as defined by Greer 1974); 3) frontoparietals fused; 4) dorsum coppery-brown, with a thin dorsolateral light stripe extending from above eye to base of tail, most distinct on anterior third of its length; flanks dark brown; 5) absence of rows of light spots on the neck; 6) presence of series of black spots on middorsal region; 7) absence of a white ventrolateral stripe; 8) 24 midbody scales rows.

Description of the holotype.

Unsexed adult in good condition, but the tail missing the tip. Arrangement and relative size of head, body and tail scalation typical for Panaspis . Robust, cylindrical body with well-developed pentadactyl limbs. Fore- and hind-limbs do not overlap when adpressed against the body. SVL 35.6 mm; tail incomplete, measuring 51.7 mm. Head length 6.6 mm, with relatively short snout (HL 129 % HW). Other relevant measurements are presented in Table 4 . Rostral wider than high, and visible from above. Nasals widely separated behind rostral by frontonasal. Frontonasal rounded anteriorly, wider than long. Nostrils small, set posteriorly in the nasals bordering the postnasal; supranasals absent. Prefrontals separated from each other, contacting loreals, first supraocular, first supraciliary, frontal and frontonasal. Two loreals, anterior one higher than broad, posterior one subquadrangular; preocular divided diagonally into two subtriangular scales on right side, and horizontally on left side into a small superior scale and a larger inferior one. Frontal length shorter than distance between anterior tip of frontal and tip of snout; frontal in contact with frontonasal and prefrontals anteriorly, and first supraocular posteriorly. Frontoparietals fused, in contact supraoculars; parietals and interparietal. Frontoparietal plus interparietal length twice the length of the frontal. Interparietal subtriangular, anterior margin wider and rounded, slightly acuminate posteriorly, with visible parietal foramen in the center; parietals about the same width as fused frontoparietals, in broad contact with each other behind interparietal. A pair of large, broad nuchals collectively bordered by a total of eight dorsals. Supraoculars three. Supraciliaries four, first higher than broad and last wider than high. Pretemporals two. Tympanum visible, ear opening wider than high, approximately one-fifth the height of the eye. Supralabials seven, the fifth being the subocular. Ablepharine eye. Infralabials six. Postmental bordering seven scales (mental, two primary chin-shields, and two infralabials on each side). Ventral scales smooth. MSR 24, SAD 53, SAV 54. Scales on palms and soles smooth. Relative length of digits of manus III > IV > II = V > I; relative length of digits of pes IV > III > II = V > I; toe V of right pes missing. LUFF scales eight; LUFT scales 13 on right side and 12 on left side. Tail long, robust and tapering smoothly.

In preservative, ground color of dorsum and upper side of head coppery brown; tail lighter, golden brown. A thin, light dorsolateral stripe extends from supraocular area to base of tail, being most distinct on anterior third of its length and faint posteriorly; below, a dark brown lateral band extends from snout to base of tail, darker on face, neck and axilla, lighter and less distinct from middorsal coloration posteriorly. Dorsal scales individually stippled with black, especially on dorsal aspect of head; labials greyish white, with individual black spots; pale and black spots scattered on lateral sides of neck. Middorsal region with black spots, forming somewhat longitudinal series. Venter uniformly greyish to blueish white; underside of tail slightly orange; palms and soles brownish.

Comparison with other Southwestern African Panaspis and related forms.

As the molecular data provide evidence of the independence of the P. mundavambo sp. nov. lineage from all other taxa, we here restrict our morphological comparisons to those named congeners occurring in Namibia and Angola and its sister taxon P. annettesabinae . P. mundavambo sp. nov. can immediately be distinguished from P. cabindae . P. ericae sp. nov. and P. aff. breviceps , by not having supranasals (versus present in P. cabindae , P. ericae sp. nov. and P. aff. breviceps ), by having an ablepharine eye (versus pre-ablepharine eye in P. cabindae and P. ericae sp. nov., and completely movable lower eyelids in P. aff. breviceps ), and by having the frontoparietals fused (versus divided in P. cabindae , P. ericae sp. nov. and i P. aff. breviceps ). In comparison with P. wahlbergii , P. mundavambo sp. nov. can be distinguished by its coloration, namely by the presence of longitudinal series of dark spots on the middorsal region and the lack of a ventrolateral white stripe (versus the absence of middorsal dark spots and presence of white ventrolateral stripe in P. wahlbergii ), and by having an overall lower number of scales across venter (54 versus 56–62 in P. wahlbergii ), midbody scales rows (24 versus 25–26 in P. wahlbergii ), scales across dorsum (53 versus 56–61 in P. wahlbergii ) and lamellae under the fourth finger (8 versus 9–10 in P. wahlbergii ). Panaspis mundavambo sp. nov. can be distinguished from P. maculicollis by the presence of longitudinal series of dark spots on middorsal region (versus no dark spots on middorsal region in P. maculicollis ), and a lower number of lamellae under fourth finger (8 versus 13–17). P. mundavambo sp. nov. can be distinguished from P. namibiana by having a lower count of scales across venter (54 in P. versus 56–67 in P. namibiana ) and dorsum (53 versus 57–68 in P. namibiana ). P. mundavambo sp. nov. can be distinguished from P. mocamedensis by the presence of series of black spots on middorsal region (versus black spots absent in P. mocamedensis ), and by having a smaller count of scales across venter (54 in P. versus 56–61 in P. mocamedensis ), across dorsum (53 versus 56–60 in P. mocamedensis ) and smaller number of lamellae under the fourth finger (8 versus 9–10 in P. mocamedensis ). Comparing P. mundavambo sp. nov. with its sister taxon, P. annettesabinae from Ethiopia, the newly described species has prefrontal scales separated from each other (versus in contact in P. annettesabinae ), a smaller count of scales across venter (54 versus 68 in P. annettesabinae ), smaller number of scales across dorsum (53 versus 62 in P. annettesabinae ).

Distribution.

The newly described species is currently only known from single locality on the Serra da Neve Inselberg, southwestern Angola (Fig. 6 ). Given the isolation of the inselberg and the stark contrast with its surrounding habitat, the newly described species is assume to be locally restricted, although it may occur elsewhere in Angola (W. Conradie, pers. comm.).

Habitat and natural history notes.

The holotype was collected under a log in an area dominated by woodlands at about 1600 m above sea level ( Grandvaux-Barbosa 1970; Huntley 2023). Very little is known about its ecology and natural history. It seems to be associated with riparian areas (Fig. 10 ). It occurs close to P. ericae sp. nov.. The single collected specimen was found in denser woodlands near a riparian gallery, while P. ericae sp. nov. was found in slightly more open miombo that dominates the landscape.

Etymology.

The specific epithet “ mundavambo ” refers to the Mukwando (local tribe) name for Serra da Neve Inselberg (Opunda Mundavambo), to which the species is endemic, and is applied here as a substantive in apposition. We propose the English vernacular name “ Serra da Neve Snake-Eyed Skink ” and the Portuguese vernacular name of “ Lagartixa da Manta-Morta da Serra da Neve ”.

Figures

Figure 6. Topographic map of the Serra da Neve Inselberg with collection localities of Panaspis species in the region. Stars represent the type localities of the newly described species.

Figure 9. Preserved holotype of Panaspis mundavambo sp. nov. (MUNHAC / MB 03-1527). Photos by Diogo Parrinha.

Figure 10. Type locality of P. mundavambo sp. nov. from a riparian gallery near Catchi, Serra da Neve. Photo by Luis M. P. Ceríaco.