Ophisops Leschenaultii on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
''Ophisops leschenaultii'', commonly called Leschenault's snake-eye, Leschenault’s lacerta, and Leschenault's cabrita, is a
"Upper head shields strongly keeled and striated; anterior labials keeled, forming a projecting margin; ''canthus rostralis'' very strong; nostril in the horizontal suture between two large nasals which are extensively in contact with the rostral, and followed by one or two postnasals, the upper of which sometimes enters the nostril; no azygous prefrontal; frontal long and narrow; a small occipital; 4 supraoculars, first and fourth small, the two principal separated from the supraciliaries by a series of granules; subocular bordering the lip, between the fourth and fifth (or fifth and sixth) upper labials; temporal scales small, keeled; two large shields border the parietals exteriorly; a curved large shield on the supero-anterior border of the ear-opening; six large chin-shields on each side, the three anterior in contact with their fellows. Dorsal scales moderately large, scarcely larger on the back than on the sides; ventrals broader than long, in 6 longitudinal and 25 to 29 transverse series, the median longitudinal series narrower than the others; 42 to 48 scales round the middle of the body, ventrals included. A large postero-median preanal plate. The hind limb reaches the ante-humeral fold or a little beyond the ear; the length of the foot equals the distance between the antehumeral fold and the nostril or the tip of the snout. 12 to 16 femoral pores on each side. Tail nearly twice as long as head and body; caudal scales much larger than dorsals.
Brownish or golden above; a pale band, edged above with a black one, along each side of the body and tail, commencing from the supraciliary edge; another pale, black-edged band along the upper lip and side of the body; the space between the two light bands on each side usually black, or spotted with black; lower surfaces yellowish-white, tail and hind limbs often reddish.
From snout to vent 2 inches cm tail 4 0 cm"
Description from A. Günther's ''The Reptiles of British India'' (1864):
"Two loreals; the central occipital very small. The lower eyelid transparent; temples with small, hexagonal, keeled scales of equal size. Dorsal scales keeled, rhombic. Ventral scales in six longitudinal and twenty-five or twenty-six transverse series. Vent covered with a larger central scale, surrounded by other small ones. Fifteen or sixteen femoral pores.
Brown, with two broad whitish bands on each side, the upper arising from the superciliary and running along the side of the back, the lower proceeding from below the eye and ear along; the middle of the side.
Total length 5 1/2 inches 4 cm of head and trunk 2 inches cm
The specimens in the Paris Museum are said to be from the coast of Coromandel. Jerdon (Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, xxii. p. 476) says that he has recognized the species: ''it is somewhat locally distributed. I have seen it in the Salem and Coimbatoor districts only, especially near the banks of the Cauvery. It frequents bushy ground, hedges of ''Euphorbia'' and clumps of Cactus.'' Mr. Blyth adds that the Museum at Calcutta contains examples of what he takes to be this species, from Pind Dadun Khan, in the Punjab Salt Range; and that it formerly possessed the same from Afghanistan."
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of lizard
Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...
in the family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Lacertidae
The Lacertidae are the family of the wall lizards, true lizards, or sometimes simply lacertas, which are native to Afro-Eurasia. It is a diverse family with at about 360 species in 39 genera. They represent the dominant group of reptiles found ...
. The species is native to India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
and eastern Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
. In Sri Lanka, this lizard is called in Sinhala. In some parts of the country, it is also called or , which is a common name for all skink-like reptiles.
Description
The following description is from G.A. Boulenger's''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma
''The Fauna of British India'' (short title) with long titles including ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma'', and ''The Fauna of British India Including the Remainder of the Oriental Region'' is a series of scientific books t ...
. Reptilia and Batrachia'' (1890):
"Upper head shields strongly keeled and striated; anterior labials keeled, forming a projecting margin; ''canthus rostralis'' very strong; nostril in the horizontal suture between two large nasals which are extensively in contact with the rostral, and followed by one or two postnasals, the upper of which sometimes enters the nostril; no azygous prefrontal; frontal long and narrow; a small occipital; 4 supraoculars, first and fourth small, the two principal separated from the supraciliaries by a series of granules; subocular bordering the lip, between the fourth and fifth (or fifth and sixth) upper labials; temporal scales small, keeled; two large shields border the parietals exteriorly; a curved large shield on the supero-anterior border of the ear-opening; six large chin-shields on each side, the three anterior in contact with their fellows. Dorsal scales moderately large, scarcely larger on the back than on the sides; ventrals broader than long, in 6 longitudinal and 25 to 29 transverse series, the median longitudinal series narrower than the others; 42 to 48 scales round the middle of the body, ventrals included. A large postero-median preanal plate. The hind limb reaches the ante-humeral fold or a little beyond the ear; the length of the foot equals the distance between the antehumeral fold and the nostril or the tip of the snout. 12 to 16 femoral pores on each side. Tail nearly twice as long as head and body; caudal scales much larger than dorsals.
Brownish or golden above; a pale band, edged above with a black one, along each side of the body and tail, commencing from the supraciliary edge; another pale, black-edged band along the upper lip and side of the body; the space between the two light bands on each side usually black, or spotted with black; lower surfaces yellowish-white, tail and hind limbs often reddish.
From snout to vent 2 inches cm tail 4 0 cm"
Description from A. Günther's ''The Reptiles of British India'' (1864):
"Two loreals; the central occipital very small. The lower eyelid transparent; temples with small, hexagonal, keeled scales of equal size. Dorsal scales keeled, rhombic. Ventral scales in six longitudinal and twenty-five or twenty-six transverse series. Vent covered with a larger central scale, surrounded by other small ones. Fifteen or sixteen femoral pores.
Brown, with two broad whitish bands on each side, the upper arising from the superciliary and running along the side of the back, the lower proceeding from below the eye and ear along; the middle of the side.
Total length 5 1/2 inches 4 cm of head and trunk 2 inches cm
The specimens in the Paris Museum are said to be from the coast of Coromandel. Jerdon (Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, xxii. p. 476) says that he has recognized the species: ''it is somewhat locally distributed. I have seen it in the Salem and Coimbatoor districts only, especially near the banks of the Cauvery. It frequents bushy ground, hedges of ''Euphorbia'' and clumps of Cactus.'' Mr. Blyth adds that the Museum at Calcutta contains examples of what he takes to be this species, from Pind Dadun Khan, in the Punjab Salt Range; and that it formerly possessed the same from Afghanistan."
Habitat
The preferred naturalhabitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
of ''O. leschenaultii'' is rocky areas of either forest
A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
or shrubland
Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...
, at altitudes from sea level to .
Behavior
''O. leschenaulti'' isterrestrial
Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial.
Terrestrial may also refer to:
* Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on o ...
and diurnal.
Reproduction
''O. leschenaultii'' isoviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...
. Clutch
A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does th ...
size is up to six eggs.
Etymology
Thespecific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
, ''leschenaultii'', commemorates French naturalist Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* Jea ...
. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Ophisops leschenaultii'', p. 156).
References
Further reading
* Boulenger GA (1887). ''Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume III. Lacertidæ'' .... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 575 pp. + Plates I–XL. (''Cabrita leschenaultii'', pp. 70–71). *Boulenger GA (1890). ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia.'' London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. (''Cabrita leschenaultii'', p. 172). * Das I (2002). ''A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of India''. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. . (''Ophisops leschenaultii'', p. 104). * Gayen NC (1999). "A synopsis of the reptiles of Gujarat, western India". ''Hamadryad'' 24 (1): 1–22. * Gray JE (1838). "Catalogue of the Slender-tongued Saurians, with Descriptions of many new Genera and Species. Part 1". ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History, First Series'' 1: 274–283. (''Cabrita brunnea'', new species, p. 282). *Gray JE (1845). ''Catalogue of the Specimens of Lizards in the Collection of the British Museum.'' London: Trustees of the British Museum (Edward Newman, printer). xxviii + 289 pp. (''Cabrita leschenaultii'', p. 43). * Günther ACLG (1864). ''The Reptiles of British India.'' London: The Ray Society. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xxvii + 452 pp. + Plates I–XXVI. (''Cabrita leschenaultii'', pp. 71–72). * Milne-Edwards H (1829). "''Recherches zoologiques pour servir à l'histoire des lézards, extraites d'une monographie de ce genre'' ". ''Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Paris'' 16: 50–89. (''Lacerta leschenaultii'', new species, p. 80). (in French). * Smith MA (1935). ''The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. II.—Sauria.'' London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 440 pp. + Plate I + 2 maps. ("''Cabrita leschenaulti'' ic, pp. 374–375).External links
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3011846 Ophisops Reptiles of India Reptiles of Sri Lanka Reptiles described in 1829 Taxa named by Henri Milne-Edwards