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Issue: Vol. 4109 No. 3: 9 May 2016
Type: Article
Published: 2016-05-09
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4109.3.2
Page range: 284–314
Abstract views: 206
PDF downloaded: 4

A review of the genus Trachylepis (Sauria: Scincidae) from the Gulf of Guinea, with descriptions of two new species in the Trachylepis maculilabris (Gray, 1845) species complex

Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência, Universidade de Lisboa, Rua da Escola Politécnica, 58, 1269–102 Lisboa, Portugal Department of Herpetology, Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, Florida, 32611, USA
Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência, Universidade de Lisboa, Rua da Escola Politécnica, 58, 1269–102 Lisboa, Portugal
Department of Biology, Villanova University, 800 Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085-1699, USA
Gulf of Guinea São Tomé & Príncipe endemism Trachylepis thomensis sp. nov. Trachylepis principensis sp. nov. skink Reptilia

Abstract

The scincid genus Trachylepis is represented in the oceanic islands of the Gulf of Guinea by four species, Trachylepis maculilabris, T. affinis, T. adamastor and T. ozorii. Here we describe two new species, Trachylepis thomensis sp. nov., endemic to São Tomé Island and Rolas Islet, and Trachylepis principensis sp. nov., endemic to Príncipe Island. Phylogenetic analysis using the mitochondrial gene 16S shows that both new species are genetically divergent and reciprocally monophyletic, and confirms evidence for the uniqueness of these lineages presented in previous studies. Morphological data (scalation and morphometry) identify consistent phenotypic differences between these two island species. We were also able to confirm that the T. affinis population of Príncipe Island is conspecific with the African mainland population and most probably the result of recent introductions. These findings raise the number of known Trachylepis species in the Gulf of Guinea islands group to five, four of which are endemic, although the phylogenetic and phylogeographic relationships of T. adamastor and T. ozorii remain unknown and require further investigation.

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