identifier	taxonID	type	CVterm	format	language	title	description	additionalInformationURL	UsageTerms	rights	Owner	contributor	creator	bibliographicCitation
DD7D87D31C6EFA2FF1B7F844FB661259.text	DD7D87D31C6EFA2FF1B7F844FB661259.taxon	http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/Text	http://rs.tdwg.org/ontology/voc/SPMInfoItems#GeneralDescription	text/html	en	Scincella stuarti (Smith 1941) Brito & Vázquez 2025	<div><p>Scincella stuarti (Smith 1941) stat. nov.</p><p>(Fig. 4)</p><p>Leiolopisma cherriei (Smith 1939)</p><p>Lygosoma cherriei stuarti (Smith 1941)</p><p>Leiolopisma cherriei stuarti (Smith 1946)</p><p>Scincella cherriei stuarti (Smith &amp; Taylor 1950)</p><p>Sphenomorphus assatus assatus (Rendón et al. 1998)</p><p>Scincella cherriei (Aguilar-López &amp; Canseco-Márquez 2006)</p><p>Scincella cherriei (Valdenegro-Brito et al. 2016)</p><p>Scincella cherriei (Torres-Hernández et al. 2021)</p><p>Scincella cherriei (Simón-Salvador et al. 2021)</p><p>Holotype — U.S.N.M. No. 115174 (H. M. Smith field No. 2053), from  Potrero Viejo, Veracruz  .  Paratypes. Fourteen, of which thirteen are topotypes collected in the same locality of the holotype (U.S.N.M. Nos. 115175-86, EHT-HMS [HMS No. 1780], Univ. Mich. Mus. Zool. No. 85429); and another one from Cuautlapan, Veracruz (U.S.N.M. No. 115187) .</p><p>Diagnosis —  S. stuarti differs from all American members of the genus  Scincella by having the following combination of traits: a single frontoparietal scale; undifferentiated nuchal scales; lower eyelid window undivided; 30–36 midbody scale rows; 66–72 dorsal scales (from nuchals scales to vent); moderately long and thick limbs, separated by six scales in adult females and overlapping by ten scales in adult males when adpressed against the body; dorsal body ground color dark brown, with irregular dark mottling throughout; small pale spots on lateral surface of body that are more intense and evident in males; eight scale rows between the primary lateral dark lines at the level of the neck; well-defined primary lateral dark stripe on the head and neck, that turns into black dots posteriorly; creamy-yellow belly; and a blue-gray tail (blue color more intense ventrally) with a cross-banded pattern.</p><p>Redescription— Medium sized species,reaching a maximum snout-vent-length(SVL) of62.5 mm, characterized by elongated, cylindrical body; small, smooth, shiny, cycloid body scales; supranasal scales absent; single frontoparietal scale; interparietal surrounded by parietals; frontal in contact with frontoparietal; undifferentiated nuchal scales; 7 supralabials, 6–7 infralabials, usually 7; 4 supraoculars; lower eyelid window undivided; 31–36 scale rows around midneck; 30–36 x = 31 midbody scale rows, 66–72 x̄ = 69 dorsal scales (from nuchals scales to vent level); 8 scale rows between the primary lateral dark stripe at the level of the neck. Thick and moderately long pentadactyl limbs, which when adpressed against body overlap in males by up to 10 scales or are separated by up to six scales in females, length/SVL ratio 0.27–0.38 x = 0.32; subdigital lamellae on Toe IV 16–20; femoral pores absent. Brown to dark brown body color with a pattern of irregular black spots on the dorsal and lateral region of the body, a lateral dark stripe only well defined on the head and neck, which degrades at midbody into small black spots; additionally in males (unlike females), a series of small pale spots present along the lateral region of the body; creamy-yellow belly; blue-gray tail with crossbanded pattern.</p><p>Natural history and distribution—  Scincella stuarti occurs along the central mountains of Puebla and Veracruz, and the lowlands of the coastal Gulf of Mexico, is known from Orizaba and Cuautlapan municipalities, and the mountains of the Sierra de Zongolica; in southern Veracruz in the  Los Tuxtlas region and Las Choapas and Playa Vicente municipalities; southeastern Puebla in Eloxochitlán municipality to northern Oaxaca in Santiago Jalahui, Santiago Choapam, and Santa Cruz Tepetotutla (Fig. 5). It inhabits tropical evergreen forest and mountain cloud forest at low to moderate elevations (23–1461 m) (Fig. 6).  Scincella stuarti is of mainly terrestrial habits and is associated with leaf litter, although it can also be found in arboreal microhabitats (Aguilar-López et al. 2014). It is diurnal but mainly active at twilight; at night it takes refuge in hollows of roots or under rocks.</p></div>	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/DD7D87D31C6EFA2FF1B7F844FB661259	Public Domain	No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.		MagnoliaPress via Plazi	Brito, Antonio Esaú Valdenegro;Vázquez, Uri Omar García	Brito, Antonio Esaú Valdenegro, Vázquez, Uri Omar García (2025): Taxonomic status and sexual dimorphism of the brown forest skink, Scincella cherriei stuarti (Smith 1941) (Squamata: Scincidae). Zootaxa 5601 (1): 109-126, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5601.1.5, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5601.1.5
