Records of the Zoological Survey of India - A Journal of Indian Zoology

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Taxonomic reassessment of Eutropis macularia (Blyth, 1853) complex in the Western Ghats of India: Resurrection of Eutropis brevis (Günther, 1875), Eutropis dawsoni (Annandale, 1909) and synonymisation of Eutropis gansi (Das, 1991) (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae)


Affiliations
1 Chennai Snake Park, Rajbhavan Post, Chennai − 600022, Tamil Nadu, India
2 Zoological Survey of India, Herpetology Division, 27 JL Nehru Road, Kolkata − 700016, West Bengal, India
3 Center for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore − 560012, Karnataka, India
4 Department of Life Sciences, Darwin Centre, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom
 

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Against the backdrop of published cryptic genetic diversity and partly resolved taxonomy of the Eutropis macularia complex of skinks in the Indian Peninsula, we reassess the taxonomic status of the Western Ghats populations. Based on our examination of name-bearing types of two synonymised nomina (Euprepes brevis, Lygosoma dawsoni) and a valid (Mabuya gansi) nomen, we recognise two species: E. brevis and E. dawsoni, with E. gansi being the synonym of the latter. We characterise and distinguish these southwest Indian taxa from the allopatric E. macularia s. str. In keeping with studies on the nearby island of Sri Lanka, cryptic diversity within the peninsular Indian E. macularia complex has resulted in the resurrection of these long-synonymised nominal taxa.

Keywords

Bengal, Eutropis brevis, E. dawsoni, Junior Synonym, Nomenclature, Western Ghats
User
Subscription Login to verify subscription
Notifications
Font Size

  • Amarasinghe, A.A.T., Campbell, P.D., Chandramouli, S.R., Deuti, K., Raha, S., Karunarathna, D.M.S.S. and Ineich, I. 2016a. Taxonomy and natural history of Eutropis beddomei (Jerdon, 1870) (Reptilia: Scincidae), including a redescription of the holotype. Zootaxa, 4132(4): 509-520. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4132.4.3. PMid:27395689.

  • Amarasinghe, A.A.T., Campbell, P.D., Chandramouli, S.R., Deuti, K., Raha, S., Karunarathna, D.M.S.S. and Ineich, I. 2016b. Taxonomy of two endemic Indian skinks, Eutropis bibronii (Gray, 1838) and E. nagarjunensis (Sharma, 1969) (Reptilia: Scincidae), including redescriptions of their types. Zootaxa, 4154(2): 155-168. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4154.2.3. PMid:27615831.

  • Annandale, N. 1909. Report on a small collection of lizards from Travancore. Rec. Indian Mus., 3:253-257.

  • Barley, A.J., Datta‐Roy, A., Karanth, K.P. and Brown, R.M. 2014. Sun skink diversification across the Indian-Southeast Asian biogeographical interface. J. Biogeo., 42(2): 292-304. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.12397.

  • Batuwita, S. 2016. Description of two new species of Eutropis (Reptilia: Scincidae) from Sri Lanka with a redescription of Eutropis madaraszi (Méhely). J. Herpet., 50(3): 486-496. https://doi.org/10.1670/15-093.

  • Batuwita, S., Udugampala, S. and Edirisinghe, U. 2020. Description of a new species of Eutropis (Sauria: Scincidae) from the Central Hills of Sri Lanka with the resurrection of Eutropis lankae (Deraniyagala). J. Ani. Div., 2(2): 36-55. https://doi.org/10.29252/JAD.2020.2.2.5.

  • Blyth, E. 1853. Notices and descriptions of various reptiles, new or little-known. Part I. J. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, 22(1853): 639-655.

  • Boulenger, G.A. 1887. Catalogue of Lizards in the British Museum. III. Lacertidae, Gerrhosauridae, Scincidae, Anelytropsidae, Dibamidae, Chamaeleontidae. Printed by the order of Trustees of British Museum, London.

  • Boulenger, G.A. 1890. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma: Reptilia and Batrachia. British Museum (Natural History). Taylor & Francis, London.

  • Das, I. 1991. A new species of Mabuya from Tamil Nadu State, Southern India (Squamata: Scincidae). J. Herp., 25(3): 342-344. https://doi.org/10.2307/1564594.

  • Das, I., De Silva, A. and Austin, C.C. 2008. A new species of Eutropis (Squamata: Scincidae) from Sri Lanka. Zootaxa, 1700(1): 35-52. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.1700.1.3.

  • Datta-Roy, A., Singh, M., Srinivasulu, C. and Karanth, K.P. 2012. Phylogeny of the Asian Eutropis (Squamata: Scincidae) reveals an ‘into India’ endemic Indian radiation. Mol. Phy. Evo., 63(3): 817-824. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2012.02.022. PMid:22406530.

  • Deuti, K., Raha, S., Bag, P., Debnath, S., Srikanthan, A.N. and Chandra, K. 2020. Skinks of India. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata; p. 1-398.

  • Günther, A.C.L.G. 1875. Second report on collections of Indian Reptiles obtained by the British Museum. Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1875: 224-234.

  • Hammer, Ø., Harper, D.A.T. and Ryan, P.D. 2006. PAST-Palaeontological Statistics, ver. 1.81. Software documentation, 69 pp.

  • Inger, R.F., Shaffer, H.B., Koshy, M. and Bakde, R. 1984. A report on a collection of amphibians and reptiles from the Ponmudi, Kerala, South India. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 81(3): 551-570.

  • Mausfeld, P., Schmitz, A., Böhme, W., Misof, B., Vrcibradic, D. and Rocha, C.F.D. 2002. Phylogenetic affinities of Mabuya atlantica Schmidt, 1945, endemic to the Atlantic Ocean archipelago of Fernando de Noronha (Brazil): Necessity of partitioning the genus Mabuya Fitzinger, 1826 (Scincidae: Lygosominae). Zool. Anz.-A Journal of Comparative Zoology, 241(3): 281-293. https://doi.org/10.1078/0044-5231-00081.

  • Smith, M.A. 1935. The Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. 2-Sauria, Taylor & Francis, London.

  • Taylor, E.H. and Elbel, R.E. 1958. Contribution to the Herpetology of Thailand. Uni. Kansas Sci. Bull., 38(13): 1033-1189. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.part.10972.

  • Uetz, P., Hellerman, J and Freed, P. 2021. Eutropis macularia. The EMBL Reptile Database. Accessed on 3rd April 2021. https://reptile- database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Eutropis&species=macularia.


Abstract Views: 121

PDF Views: 95




  • Taxonomic reassessment of Eutropis macularia (Blyth, 1853) complex in the Western Ghats of India: Resurrection of Eutropis brevis (Günther, 1875), Eutropis dawsoni (Annandale, 1909) and synonymisation of Eutropis gansi (Das, 1991) (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae)

Abstract Views: 121  |  PDF Views: 95

Authors

S. R. Ganesh
Chennai Snake Park, Rajbhavan Post, Chennai − 600022, Tamil Nadu, India
Kaushik Deuti
Zoological Survey of India, Herpetology Division, 27 JL Nehru Road, Kolkata − 700016, West Bengal, India
N. S. Achyuthan
Center for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore − 560012, Karnataka, India
Patrick Campbell
Department of Life Sciences, Darwin Centre, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom
Sujoy Raha
Zoological Survey of India, Herpetology Division, 27 JL Nehru Road, Kolkata − 700016, West Bengal, India
Probhat Bag
Zoological Survey of India, Herpetology Division, 27 JL Nehru Road, Kolkata − 700016, West Bengal, India
Sudipta Debnath
Zoological Survey of India, Herpetology Division, 27 JL Nehru Road, Kolkata − 700016, West Bengal, India

Abstract


Against the backdrop of published cryptic genetic diversity and partly resolved taxonomy of the Eutropis macularia complex of skinks in the Indian Peninsula, we reassess the taxonomic status of the Western Ghats populations. Based on our examination of name-bearing types of two synonymised nomina (Euprepes brevis, Lygosoma dawsoni) and a valid (Mabuya gansi) nomen, we recognise two species: E. brevis and E. dawsoni, with E. gansi being the synonym of the latter. We characterise and distinguish these southwest Indian taxa from the allopatric E. macularia s. str. In keeping with studies on the nearby island of Sri Lanka, cryptic diversity within the peninsular Indian E. macularia complex has resulted in the resurrection of these long-synonymised nominal taxa.

Keywords


Bengal, Eutropis brevis, E. dawsoni, Junior Synonym, Nomenclature, Western Ghats

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi%2Fv121%2Fi3%2F2021%2F154296