Trachylepis albopunctata ( Bocage, 1867 )

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 : 23-24

Trachylepis albopunctata ( Bocage, 1867)

Material (one specimen): One adult specimen (MHNCUP/REP 269; Fig. S39 ), collected from Ambaca [-9.26667º, 15.18333º, 738 m a.s.l.] Kwanza Norte Province, by Américo da Costa (offered to Francisco Newton), date unknown .

Comments: Trachylepis albopunctata is a widespread species in Angola, although it is absent from southeastern regions of the country ( Marques et al. 2018). This specimen was presumably offered to Newton by Américo da Costa, as that was the name present in its internal label. Ferreira (1904, 1906) did not cite it in any of his publications but identified it as “ Mabuia varia ”. The Angolan and Zambian specimens of this species have long been considered to be Trachylepis varia , however Weinell & Bauer (2018) concluded that Trachylepis varia is absent from both countries. Marques et al. (2018) referred to the species as Trachylepis albopunctata and later, Weinell et al. (2019), in a phylogeny study on the genus Trachylepis , followed its usage for Angolan (and Zambian) specimens.

Figures

FIGURE S39. Specimen of Trachylepis albopunctata (MHNC-UP/REP269), from Ambaca. Photo by Bruna Santos.