Janetaescincus veseyfitzgeraldi
| Janetaescincus veseyfitzgeraldi | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Janetaescincus veseyfitzgeraldi | ||||||||||||
| ( Parker , 1947) |
Janetaescincus veseyfitzgeraldi is a skink-cart thatis endemic to the Seychelles . The type epithet honors the Irish entomologist Leslie Desmond Edward Foster Vesey-Fitzgerald .
features
Janetaescincus veseyfitzgeraldi reaches a head-trunk length of 37 mm. The length of the front legs is 4.5 mm, the number of rows of scales around the middle of the body 22. In front of the suboculars there are two upper lip shields . The body color is a single dark color.
distribution
Janetaescincus veseyfitzgeraldi occurs on the islands of Mahé , Silhouette , Curieuse , Félicité , La Digue and Frégate in the Seychelles. It is a lowland species that can be observed at altitudes from sea level to 400 m. On Mahé, Janetaescincus veseyfitzgeraldi is only known from the region of Mont Sébert .
Way of life
Janetaescincus veseyfitzgeraldi lays one or two eggs in a nest made of leaves and litter on the forest floor. The species is sensitive to disturbances.
status
The IUCN classifies the species in the “endangered” category . In 2005, conservationist Justin Gerlach estimated the population at 36,042 ± 1,513 individuals. The main threat comes from the reenactment by introduced Great Tenreks ( Tenrec ecaudatus ) and from habitat loss. 42 percent of the population lives on Silhouette Island.
Systematics
The species status of Janetaescincus veseyfitzgeraldi is controversial. The first description by Hampton Wildman Parker was in 1947 as Amphiglossus veseyfitzgeraldi . In 1970 Allen Eddy Greer transferred this species to the genus Janetaescincus . In 1984 the British zoologist Anthony S. Cheke considered Janetaescincus veseyfitzgeraldi to be a synonym for Janetaescincus braueri , which is currently not generally accepted.
literature
- David Ross Stoddart : Biogeography and ecology of the Seychelles Islands . Springer, 1984, pp. 335-337, ISBN 978-906-193-107-2