Lubuya ivensii ( Bocage, 1879 )

Conradie, Werner, Bills, Roger & Branch, William R., 2016, The herpetofauna of the Cubango, Cuito, and lower Cuando river catchments of south-eastern Angola, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (e 126) 10 (2), pp. 6-36 : 25

Lubuya ivensii ( Bocage, 1879)

Iven’s Meadow Skink

Material: PEM R 20005 (7c).

Comment: A rarely sampled semi-aquatic skink, known from eight localities in Angola, single localities in adjacent Zambia and Democratic Republic of the Congo ( Branch and Haagner 1993; Wagner et al. 2012), and a recent isolated record from Lavushi Manda National Park, Zambia ( Broadley and Willems 2015). It was previously listed as a near-endemic species to Angola, and can be considered as such pending genetic assessment of the Lavushi Manda population. The new record ( Fig. 8g ) from the floodplains just north of Menongue is the first record for the Cubango-Okavango system (previously only known to occur in the headwaters of the Zambezi, Kwanza, and Congo drainage systems). Horton (1972) placed Mabuya ivensii into a monotypic genus, Lubuya , that was recently revived due to its basal position in a phylogeny of mabuyine skinks ( Metallinou et al. 2016) and it is unique matrotrophic reproduction.

Figures

Fig. 8. A selection of reptiles from south-eastern Angola. A. Natriciteres olivacea; B. Limnophis bangweolicus; C. Tetradactylus ellenbergeri; D. Zygaspis quadrifrons; E. Typhlacontias rohani; F. Acontias kgalagadi kgalagadi; G. Lubuya ivensii; H. Pelusios bechuanicus.