Trachylepis bayonii (Bocage, 1872)

Conradie, Werner, Keates, Chad, Verburgt, Luke, Baptista, Ninda L., Harvey, James, Júlio, Timóteo & Neef, Götz, 2022, Contributions to the herpetofauna of the Angolan Okavango-Cuando-Zambezi River drainages. Part 2: Lizards (Sauria), chelonians, and crocodiles, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 322) 16 (2), pp. 181-214 : 202

Trachylepis bayonii (Bocage, 1872)

Bayão’s Skink ( Fig. 31 , Map 28)

Material (21 specimens): PEM R23336–8 , Cuito River source lake, -12.68935° 18.36012°, 1,435 m asl ; PEM R23354 , Kulua River source lake, 6 km SE of Cuito River source, -12.736749° 18.3931022°, 1,446 m asl ; PEM R23378 , Kwanza River bridge, -11.99348° 17.66965°, 1,273 m asl ; PEM R23477 , Quembo River trap 2, -13.13544° 19.04397°, 1,369 m asl ; PEM R23478 , Quembo River trap 3, -13.13072° 19.03724°, 1,369 m asl ; PEM R23501 , Quembo River source lake, -13.14104° 19.05426°, 1,399 m asl ; PEM R23514 , Cuito River source lake, -12.68866° 18.36025°, 1,426 m asl ; PEM R23516 , Kulua River source, -12.73723° 18.3934°, 1,444 m asl ; PEM R23553–5 , INBAC: WC-4674, Quembo River source camp, -13.14104° 19.05426°, 1,371 m asl ; PEM R23971 (iNaturalist 12347684), Rio Comba , -12.62442° 18.65159°, 1,299 m asl ; PEM R23987 , Lungwebungu River trap 1, -12.58012° 18.66740°, 1,298 m asl ; PEM R27420 , Lungwebungu River camp, at bridge, -12.58391° 18.66545°, 1,295 m asl ; PEM R27421 , Lungwebungu River camp, -12.58439° 18.66748°, 1,297 m asl ; PEM R27422 , Quembo River bridge camp, trap 1, -13.52801° 19.28147°, 1,236 m asl ; PEM R27423–4 , Quembo River right side tributary (Micongo River) past village, -13.51877° 19.284866°, 1,248 m asl . Description: Dorsal scales with five keels each; scales under toes spinose; 30–35 (32) midbody scale rows; 45–56 (52) transverse ventral scale rows; 40–53 (49) transverse dorsal scale rows; 4–6 supralabials; 6–8 infralabials; 3–4 supraciliaries; 15–17 (16) subdigital lamellae under 4 th toe. Largest specimen: 76.2 + 152 mm ( PEM R27424 ). Habitat and natural history notes: Lateral sides of body and tail orange in breeding males. Comment: Two subspecies are currently recognized : T. b. bayonii and T. b. huilensis. Weinell et al. (2019) showed that T. b. huilensis requires full species recognition. Our new material is tentatively assigned to T. b. bayonii , based on distribution and unpublished barcoding results (W. Conradie, unpub. data) .

Figures

Fig. 31. Adult unsexed Trachylepis bayonii from Cuito River source. Photo by Werner Conradie.