Trachylepis maculilabris (Gray, 1845)

Figure 8P

Material. ANGOLA – Cabinda Province • Caio Cacongo; –5.0618, 12.2588; 43 m a.s.l.; P2.104; GenBank: PQ456021. • Mayombe NP, Mbundu; –4.6875, 12.4981; 127 m a.s.l.; P3.220; GenBank: PQ456022.

Identification. A medium-sized skink (max. SVL = 95 mm) with robust limbs and body. Dorsum olive-grey to dark brown, with scattered white to yellowish speckles on the flanks and limbs. Venter, throat and infralabials cream to yellow, uniformly coloured (Ceríaco et al. 2024). Specimens from Cabinda Province differ by ∼1% (16S p -distance) from specimens from Nyanga, Gabon (GenBank: MK792018) and Mambasa, DRC (GenBank: MK496123). However, they differ by ∼3.9% from material south of the Congo River at Cuanza-Sul Province, Angola (GenBank: MK792017).

Biology and distribution. Trachylepis maculilabris is the arboreal skink with the widest distribution in Africa (Allen et al. 2019). In Cabinda Province, the species was recorded from the coast to Lower Mayombe, being found in clearings, patches of secondary or degraded forest, and in farmland and on buildings.