''Trachylepis boettgeri'',
commonly known as Boettger's mabuya, is a
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
skink
Skinks are a type of lizard belonging to the family (biology), family Scincidae, a family in the Taxonomic rank, infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one o ...
, a lizard 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 ...
Scincidae.
The species is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
.
[
]
Etymology
Both the specific 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 ...
, ''boettgeri'', and the common name, Boettger's mabuya, are in honor of German herpetologist Oskar Boettger
Oskar Boettger (; 31 March 1844 – 25 September 1910) was a German zoologist who was a native of Frankfurt am Main. He was an uncle of the noted malacologist Caesar Rudolf Boettger (1888–1976).
From 1863 to 1866 he studied at the Bergakademie ...
.[ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Mabuya boettgeri'', p. 29).]
Habitat
The preferred natural habitat
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 ...
s of ''T. boettgeri'' are grassland
A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...
, 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 ...
, and freshwater wetlands
A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
, at altitudes from .
Behavior
''T. boettgeri'' is terrestrial
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
''T. boettgeri'' is oviparous
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 ...
.
References
Further reading
* Angel F (1942). "''Les Lézards de Madagascar'' ". ''Mémoires de l'Acadadémie Malagache, Tananarive'' 36: 1–193. (''Mabuya boettgeri'', p. 109). (in French).
* Bauer AM (2003). "On the identity of ''Lacerta punctata'' Linnaeus, 1758, the type species of the genus ''Euprepis'' Wagler, 1830, and the generic assignment of Afro-Malagasy skinks". ''African Journal of Herpetology'' 52 (1): 1–7. (''Trachylepis boettgeri'', new combination).
* Boulenger GA (1887). ''Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume III. ... Scincidæ'' .... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 575 pp. + Plates I–XL. (''Mabuia boettgeri'', new species, p. 173 + Plate X, figures 3, 3a).
* Glaw F, Vences M (1994). ''A Fieldguide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar, Second Edition''. Cologne, Germany: Vences & Glaw Verlag / Serpents Tale. 480 pp. . (''Mabuya boettgeri'', p. 312).
*Glaw F, Vences M (2006). ''A Field Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of Madagascar, Third Edition''. Cologne: Vences & Glaw Verlag. 496 pp. .
Trachylepis
Reptiles of Madagascar
Reptiles described in 1887
Taxa named by George Albert Boulenger
{{Lygosominae-stub