Acontias Cuvier 1817

Lamb, Trip, Biswas, Sayantan & Bauer, Aaron M., 2010, A phylogenetic reassessment of African fossorial skinks in the subfamily Acontinae (Squamata: Scincidae): evidence for parallelism and polyphyly, Zootaxa 2657, pp. 33-46 : 42

Acontias Cuvier 1817

Microacontias Daniels et al. 2006

Type species: Anguis meleagris Linnaeus, 1758

Content: Acontias “ meleagris ” (Linnaeus, 1758), Acontias plumbeus Bianconi, 1849 , Acontias aurantiacus comb. nov. (Peters, 1854), Acontias aurantiacus fitzsimonsi comb. nov. ( Broadley, 1968), Acontias aurantiacus parietalis comb. nov. ( Broadley, 1990), Acontias aurantiacus bazarutoensis comb. nov. ( Broadley, 1990), Acontias aurantiacus carolinensis comb. nov. ( Broadley, 1990), Acontias lineatus Peters, 1879 , Acontias grayi Boulenger, 1887 , Acontias cregoi comb. nov. (Boulenger, 1903), Acontias tristis (Werner, 1911) , Acontias breviceps Essex, 1925 , Acontias gracilicauda Essex, 1925 , Acontias bicolor comb. nov. (Hewitt, 1929), Acontias percivali Loveridge, 1935 , Acontias orientalis Hewitt, 1937 , Acontias “ lineicauda ” Hewitt, 1937, Acontias namaquensis Hewitt, 1938 , Acontias occidentalis FitzSimons, 1941 , Acontias gariepensis comb. nov. (FitzSimons, 1941), Acontias jappi comb. nov. ( Broadley, 1968), Acontias litoralis Broadley & Greer, 1969 , Acontias richardi comb. nov. ( Jacobsen, 1987), Acontias poecilus Bourquin & Lambiris, 1996 , Acontias kgalagadi Lamb, Biswas & Bauer , nom. nov. (ex Typhlosaurus lineatus Boulenger, 1887 ), Acontias kgalagadi subtaeniatus comb. nov. ( Broadley, 1968), Acontias rieppeli Lamb, Biswas & Bauer , nom. nov. (ex Acontophiops lineatus Sternfeld, 1912 ).

Diagnosis: Body moderately attenuate (SVL 20–33 times body diameter), midbody scale rows 12– 20,145–195 ventral scale rows, subcaudals 22–46, dorsal head shields 29–50, 3–5 chin shields bordering mental, snout not strongly acutely angled, movable eyelids present, lower eyelid immovable, or eyes covered by head shields, dorsal coloration variable, dorsum solid or striped, but never pigmentless. Jugal present or absent, pectoral girdle rod-shaped or nodular, typically 21–29 (or more) caudal vertebrae.