Heliobolus spekii

Heliobolus spekii, also known commonly as Speke's sand lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae . The species is native to East Africa and the Horn of Africa. There are three recognized subspecies.

Heliobolus spekii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Lacertidae
Genus: Heliobolus
Species:
H. spekii
Binomial name
Heliobolus spekii
(Günther, 1872)
Synonyms[1]
  • Eremias spekii
    Günther, 1872
  • Eremias rugiceps
    W. Peters, 1878
  • Lampreremias spekii
    — Szczerbak, 1989
  • Heliobolus spekii
    Broadley & Howell, 1991

Etymology

The specific name, spekii, is in honor of British explorer John Hanning Speke.[2]

Geographic range

H. spekii is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Tanzania.[1]

Reproduction

H. spekii is oviparous.[1]

Subspecies

Three subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies.[1]

  • Heliobolus spekii scorteccii (Arillo, Balletto & Spanò, 1965)
  • Heliobolus spekii sextaeniata (Stejneger, 1893)
  • Heliobolus spekii spekii (Günther, 1872)

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Heliobolus.

References
  1. Species Heliobolus spekii at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
  2. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Heliobolus neumanni, p. 189; H. spekii, p.249).

Further reading
  • Arillo A, Balletto E, Spanò S (1965). "II e III spedizione Scortecci in Migiurtinia: il genere Eremias Wiegmann (Reptilia, Lacertidae)". Bollettino dei Musei e degli Istituti Biologici della Università di Genova 33: 85–109. (Eremias spekii scorteccii, new subspecies). (in Italian).
  • Goldberg SR (2009). "Reproduction in Speke's Sand Lizard, Heliobolus spekii (Squamata: Lacertidae) from Kenya". African Herp News (48): 2–4.
  • Günther A (1872). "Description of three new Species of Eremias ". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Fourth Series 9: 381–382. (Eremias spekii, new species, p. 381).
  • Spawls S, Howell K, Hinkel H, Menegon M (2018). Field Guide to East African Reptiles, Second Edition. London: Bloomsbury Natural History. 624 pp. ISBN 978-1472935618. (Heliobolus spekii, p. 199).
  • Stejneger L (1893). "On some collections of reptiles and batrachians from East Africa and the adjacent islands, recently received from Dr. W. L. Abbott and Mr. William Astor Chanler, with descriptions of new species". Proceedings of the United States National Museum 16: 711–741. (Eremias sextæniata, new species, pp. 718–719).



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