Trachylepis tschudii
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Trachylepis tschudii

Trachylepis tschudii is an enigmatic skink, purportedly from Peru. First described in 1845 on the basis of a single specimen, it may be the same as the Noronha skink (T. atlantica ) from Fernando de Noronha, off northeastern Brazil. T. tschudii represents one of two doubtful records of the otherwise African genus Trachylepis on mainland South America; the other is T. maculata from Guyana.

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The only specimen, the holotype, is mostly brownish above, with dark and light spots, and white below. The snout-to-vent length is 83 mm (3.3 in). Several features of the scales align it with Trachylepis over the related American genus Mabuya.

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Appearance

The holotype and only known specimen, which is in very poor condition, is preserved in the Museum d'Histoire Naturel de Neuchâtel as specimen MHNN 91.2426. It has five auricular lobules in front of the ears on each side of the head, 39 rows of scales around the midbody, keels on its dorsal scales, and the third supraocular scale in contact with the frontal scale, all characters which align it with Trachylepis rather than Mabuya. The other putative mainland South American Trachylepis, T. maculata, has five instead of three keels, 32 to 34 midbody scales, and separated parietal scales. T. tschudii agrees with the Noronha skink in size, coloration, numbers of scales, and discrete characters, such as having the supranasal, parietal, and prefrontal scales all in contact.

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The muzzle is narrow and long. The lower eyelid contains a large, transparent disk. The head is olive-brown. There are black scales with a white border between the eyes and the ears. The body is somewhat darker than the head and covered with irregular black and white spots above and is bluish white below. The limbs are yellowish white below. The tail is light brown above, but has two rows of darker spots, and yellowish white below. Snout-to-vent length is 83 mm (3.3 in), head length 10 mm (0.39 in), head width 6.5 mm (0.26 in), length of the body 33 mm (1.3 in), length of the forelimb 15 mm (0.59 in), length of the hindlimb 23 mm (0.91 in), and length of the (incomplete) tail 40 mm (1.6 in).

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References

1. Trachylepis tschudii Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trachylepis_tschudii

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