Acontias schmitzi Wagner, Broadley and Bauer, 2012

Pietersen, Darren W., Pietersen, Errol W. & Conradie, Werner, 2017, Preliminary herpetological survey of Ngonye Falls and surrounding regions in south-western Zambia, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 148) 11 (1), pp. 24-43 : 33

Acontias schmitzi Wagner, Broadley and Bauer, 2012

Schmitz’s Legless Skink

Material: PEM R 22015

A single specimen was collected on the east bank of the Zambezi River, opposite Ngonye Falls ( Fig. 3d ). It was found under a large log in deep sand in Miombo ( Brachystegia spp. ) woodland. Head scalation conforms to the type specimen. The new specimen measures 138 mm snout-vent length and 21 mm tail length, has 14 midbody scale rows, 178 ventrals and 26 subcaudals. Color in life is light orange ventrally and blue-grey dorsally, with the anterior two-thirds of the tail darkly pigmented ventrally. This is only the second record of this species and the most southerly locality. The holotype was collected in the Kataba Reserve, south of Mongu, Western Province, Zambia (15°23’00.9”S, 23°23’43.7”E; Wagner et al. 2012a), and this record is 140 km south of the type locality. Both records are on the eastern side of the Zambezi River in deep Kalahari sands. Based on morphological features, Wagner et al. (2012a) place A. schmitzi in a clade with A. jappi . Considering their distribution, it is expected that these two species are most probably sister taxa, and that the Zambezi River acts as a barrier to dispersal, thus facilitating their independent evolution and parapatric distribution. This species is endemic to Zambia.

Figures

Fig. 3. Selection of reptiles photographed in the vicinity of Sioma Ngwezi National Park and Ngonye Falls in south-western Zambia. (A) Anchieta’s Worm Lizard (Monopeltis anchietae), Idjobwa Pan, northern buffer zone of Sioma Ngwezi National Park and (B) close-up of the head, showing the double head shields. (C) Wahlberg’s Kalahari Gecko (Pachydactylus wahlbergii wahlbergii), Ngonye Falls campsite. (D) Schmitz’s Blind Legless Skink (Acontias schmitzi, PEM R22015), east bank of the Zambezi River opposite Ngonye Falls.