Acontias jappi (Broadley, 1968)

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 jappi (Broadley, 1968)

Barotse Legless Skink

Material: TM 86232–34, TM 86254

Individuals were collected in soil under bush clumps near Ngonye Falls campsite, airstrip and Park Headquarters ( Fig. 2e ). Numerous additional individuals were unearthed during the construction of Park Headquarters. Originally described as a subspecies of Acontias kgalagadi (previously Typhlosaurus lineatus [Boulenger, 1887]), Schneider and Bauer (2009) elevated this taxon to species status on morphological grounds. Specimens were distinguished from A. k. kgalagadi on the basis of being significantly more robust, having only two longitudinal dark stripes which fade out on the tail (typically 4–8 in A. k. kgalagadi ); 24–25 subcaudal scales (26–35 in A. k. kgalagadi ), the ocular scale being longer than high (as long as high in A. k. kgalagadi ), and only three sublingual scales border the mental (usually four in A. k. kgalagadi ; Broadley 1968b; Branch 1998). TM 86232– 34 have four supralabials and three infralabials on each side, while TM 86233 has the mental longitudinally divided into two subequal parts (undivided in the remaining specimens). The superior border of the ocular scale is incompletely fused with the anterior supraciliary on both sides in all four specimens, resulting in a narrow slit that is apparently continuous with the eye (i.e., an immovable lower eyelid). Most other members of Acontias have the eye either completely covered by an ocular scale or have a moveable lower eyelid ( Branch 1998), with only A. rie- pelli having an immovable lower eyelid ( Branch 1998). Acontias jappi is restricted to south-western Zambia and adjacent Angola ( Broadley 1968b, 1971a; Schneider and Bauer 2009).

Figures

Fig. 2. Selection of amphibians and reptiles photographed in the vicinity of Ngonye Falls, south-western Zambia. (A) View of Ngonye Falls from the eastern side of the Zambezi River. (B) Mapacha Grass Frog (Ptychadena cf. mapacha, VMUS 5990), Sioma Ngwezi National Park Headquarters. (C) Long-tailed Worm Lizard (Dalophia longicauda), Sioma Ngwezi National Park Headquarters.(D) Zambezi Rough-scaled Lizard (Ichnotropis grandiceps, TM 86237), Sioma Ngwezi National Park Headquarters. (E) Barotse Blind Legless Skink (Acontias jappi, TM 86232), Sioma Ngwezi National Park Headquarters. (F) Eastern Black-lined Plated Lizard (Gerrhosaurus intermedius), Sioma Ngwezi National Park Headquarters.