Trachylepis, Fitzinger, 1843

Koppetsch, Thore, 2020, A new species of Trachylepis (Squamata: Scincidae) from the Amhara Region Ethiopia, and a key to the Ethiopian Trachylepis, Zootaxa 4859 (1), pp. 113-126 : 123

Key to the Trachylepis of Ethiopia

(after Largen & Spawls (2006, 2010), Sindaco et al. (2012) and Marques et al. (2019); the validity of T. isselii follows Largen & Spawls (2006) and Sindaco et al. (2012); distributional data after Nistri & Vanni (2014), Ceríaco et al. (2016), Weinell & Bauer (2018) and Uetz et al. (2020).

1 Dorsal scales prominently keeled or carinated............................................................... 2

- Dorsal scales only indistinctly keeled or smooth........................................................... 10

2 Frontoparietal shields fused; mid-body scale rows 30–34; dorsal scales with 3 keels; dark lateral band from eye to groin with a pale dorsolateral stripe above and pale lateral stripe beneath...................... Trachylepis isselii [ Ethiopia, Eritrea]

- Frontoparietal shields separated.......................................................................... 3

3 Lower margin of the subocular clearly shorter (less than 50%) than its upper margin................................ 4

- Lower margin of the subocular clearly larger (more than 50%) than its upper margin................................ 5

4 Auricular lobes conspicuously long and pointed; uniform pale brown above with a series of large dark blotches in a longitudinal row behind the ear; subocular scale usually excluded from the edge of the lip; dorsal scales with 3 distinct keels, 32 midbody scale rows....................................................... Trachylepis hildebrandtii [ Ethiopia, Somalia]