Eutropis beddomei Jerdon 1870
Creators: name: Thasun Amarasinghe, A. A.
name: Campbell, Patrick D.
name: Chandramouli, S. R.
name: Deuti, Kaushik
name: Raha, Sujoy
name: Suranjan Karunarathna, D. M. S.
name: Ineich, Ivan
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2016
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Reptilia
Squamata
Scincidae
Eutropis
Eutropis beddomei

description: Eutropis beddomei (Jerdon, 1870)
(Figures 1–5, Tables 1, 2)
Synonym. Euprepes [sic] (Tiliqua) septemlineatus Blanford, 1870
Holotype (by monotypy). Adult male, BMNH 1946.8.19.17, “Mysore”, Karnataka State, India, collected by Thomas Claverhill Jerdon prior to 1870.
Other specimens examined (n =20). Sri Lanka: Pundalu Oya: BMNH 1905.3.25.21 (SVL 57.0 mm); Polonnaruwa: NMSL uncatalogued. India: Berar, Madhya Pradesh: ZSI 2354 (SVL 53.6 mm), 2355 (SVL 52.8 mm), 2356 (SVL 43.4 mm; holotype of Euprepes septemlineatus); Tamil Nadu: ZSI 12921 (SVL 54.8 mm); BMNH 1882.5.22.106–108 (SVL 55.8 mm, 53.5 mm, 52.0 mm respectively); 1874.4.29.141–145 (SVL 54.5 mm, 55.1 mm, 51.8 mm, 56.8 mm, 50.0 mm respectively); Kerala: ZSI 21872 (SVL 57.3 mm), 21873a–b (SVL 51.4 mm, 46.7 mm respectively); BMNH 1874.4.29.1296b–d (SVL 43.5 mm, 41.2 mm, 41.4 mm respectively); Maharashtra: BMNH 1874.4.29.1452 (SVL 50.0 mm).
Diagnosis. The following combination of characters distinguishes Eutropis beddomei from all other Indian and Sri Lankan congeners: five pale vertebral stripes on the back, divided (scaly) lower-eyelid disc, 29–34 midbody scale rows, 48–54 paravertebral scales, 53–59 ventrals, three (rarely four) keels on dorsal scales, 12–16 subdigital lamellae under fourth toe and a single pair of large smooth nuchals (Figs. 1–3).
Description of holotype. Male, SVL 50.0 mm. Head moderately large (head length 22.4% of SVL, head length 41.8% of axilla-groin distance), narrow (head width 65.2% of head length, head width 14.6% of SVL), indistinct from neck; snout short (snout length 35.7% of head length, snout length 54.8% of head width), slightly concave in lateral profile; rostral shield large, hemispherical, distinctly visible from above, posterior margin of midpoint curved towards the internasal; frontonasal completely separated from rostral by internasals in wide contact; frontonasal narrow, lateral border touching first loreal; prefrontals in contact and completely separated from the frontal and the frontonasal, distance along the longitudinal axis of frontonasal equals length of prefrontals, lower border touching both loreal scales, the posterior border touching the first supraocular, and frontal; frontal large, elongate, subtriangular, rounded posteriorly, shorter in length than combined frontoparietals and interparietal; two frontoparietals in contact, distinct, each larger than interparietal; interparietal with a grey coloured parietal eye (pineal eye); parietals large and completely separated by interparietal, touching temporal scales laterally; single pair of nuchals, overlapping mid-dorsally behind interparietal. Nostril large and placed in the middle of nasal; two loreals, anterior touching internasal, frontonasal and prefrontal; posterior loreal longer than anterior loreal in the longitudinal axis, touching prefrontal and first supracilliary; five preoculars, 3rd largest; eye large (orbit diameter 15.2% of head length), orbit diameter smaller than tympanum-eye length, pupil rounded; interorbital distance broad; three postoculars; four wide supraoculars, second supraocular is the longest in the longitudinal axis and the widest in the transverse axis and is in full contact with the frontal; first supraocular in contact with prefrontal; 2nd and 3rd supraoculars in contact with frontoparietals; 4th supraoculars in contact with frontoparietal, parietal, and upper pretemporal scale; three pretemporals; six supracilliaries; moveable
eyelid covered with a transparent disc divided into five segments. Six supralabials, fifth largest and at mid orbit position (5th and 6th touching eye); three primary temporals, three secondary temporals; six infralabials; ear opening deep, small, near spherical and approximately one quarter of eye diameter; six short pre-auricular lobes on each anterior tympanum. Mental large; a single large postmental followed by two chin shield pairs, the first pair not meeting along midline, the first chinshield in contact with first and second infralabial scales, the second pair in contact with second and third infralabials (Fig. 3).
Body slender, elongate (axilla-groin distance 53.6% of SVL); with the exception of head shields, nuchal pair and first row of dorsal scales, all body scales are tricarinate; all scales are imbricate and lack apical pits; midbody scale rows 33; paravertebral scale rows 50; ventrals 59; five enlarged preanal scales.
Forelimbs short; dorsal and ventral surfaces of forelimbs smooth; hind limbs relatively long (thigh length 11.4% of SVL, shank length 14.0% of SVL); thigh short and 81.4% of shank length; dorsal surfaces of hind limbs keeled; subdigital lamellae on toe IV, 14; relative length of fingers: IV> III> II> V> I; that of toes: IV> III> V> II> I.
Tail broken, median scale row of subcaudals attached to the body subequal while the median row of broken tail is enlarged, wider than length.
Variation. The variation between the holotype and other examined materials are shown in Table 1.
Colouration in preservative. Based on the holotype. Dorsal head, body and limbs dark brown, snout and frontal yellowish brown. Five pale longitudinal stripes present on the body (one mid-dorsal and two laterally/on each side), the three bands on the mid-dorsum are light, grayish-brown while the two bands on lateral side are cream. The three mid-dorsal bands begin at the first dorsal scale and extend to the tail, while the two lateral bands (one on each side) start behind the eye and extend to the tail over the tympanum and limbs. Each of these five bands covers a width of, approximately, one scale or less. Lateral body, belly and subcaudals creamy white.
Colouration in life. The live body colouration is more or less the same as in preserved specimen. Further characters are visible in Figures 1 and 2.
Comparison with other species. Congeners from mainland India and Sri Lanka have the following suite of characters that distinguish them from Eutropis beddomei. Unlike E. beddomei, E. bibronii, E. dissimilis, E. innotata, and E. nagarjuni have undivided lower-eyelid discs (vs. divided/scaly). Eutropis beddomei has three keels on its dorsal scales (vs. 5–7 keels in E. trivittata; and 6 or 7 keels in E. tammanna). Eutropis carinata, E. multifasciata, and E. rudis have a uniform olive-brown dorsum lacking clearly visible bands; and E. madaraszi has a pale dorsolateral stripe from supralabials to midtail (vs. five pale complete or incomplete vertebral stripes). Eutropis clivicola has 17–19 subdigital lamellae under fourth toe (vs. 14–16). Eutropis gansi has 41 ventrals (vs. 55–59). E. macularia and E. floweri have 34–37 and E. quadricarinata has 41–43 paravertebral scales (vs. 48–54).
Distribution and natural history. From the specimens we examined, Eutropis beddomei is recorded from Tamil Nadu State (Anantagiri, Chennai), Madhya Pradesh (SE Berar), Odisha State (Ghatgaon), and Kerala State (Palghat) in India. Additional data regarding its distribution in peninsular India were recently summarized by Srinivasulu et al. (2014). In Sri Lanka we observed this species from Polonnaruwa District: Kalu-Kale (7°46'37.67" N, 81°˚03'29.96"E, alt. 60 m), Polonnaruwa (7°46'72.91" N, 81°˚03'37.72"E, alt. 53 m); Monaragala District: Maldam-Ambe (7°12'30.21" N, 81°18'52.97"E, alt. 220 m), Nilgala (7°11'N, 81°18'E, alt. 200 m); Ampara District: Gal Oya (7°13'N, 81°22'E, alt. 100 m); Trincomalee District: Gantalawa (8°26'02.37" N, 81°18'52.97"E, alt. 27 m); Kegalle District: Uda Maliboda (6°53'01.58" N, 80°26'31.18"E, alt. 300 m); Mullaitivu District: Nanthi Kadal (9°17'N, 80°46'E; pers. comm. D.K. Kandambi with photographic evidence) (Fig. 4).
Based on our observations, E. beddomei is a diurnal skink active between 7:00 and 16:00 hrs. It is able to move very quickly on dry sandy soil. It usually occurs up to an elevation of 300 m. The environmental parameters in their microhabitat during the day time are as follows: ambient temperature, 30.2–31.5 ˚C; ambient humidity, 58–64%; ambient light intensity, 3428–4047 lux based on eight observations in open, dry shrub areas (at Polonnaruwa and Gantalawa, Sri Lanka). According to field observations, its diet consists mostly of brown coloured grasshoppers, small ground and litter-dwelling spiders, coleopteran beetles, noisy crickets and several other small insects. At night, this species hides under rocks, logs or leaf litter. The environmental parameters in the microhabitat at night are as follows: ambient temperature, 27.8–28.4 ˚C; ambient humidity, 68–75%; and ambient light intensity, 17–28 lux based on three observations in open dry shrub areas (at Maldam-Ambe, Sri Lanka). During the morning hours (7:00–10:00 hr) they are actively foraging, but during the afternoon (12:00–14:00 hr) they rest in shady places. Information on the reproductive cycle of this species is unknown. We observed this species living in sympatric with other skink species such as Eutropis carinata, E. macularia, E. tammanna, Lankascincus fallax and Lygosoma punctata in a variety of different habitats. During the day individuals are able to escape quickly and hide in root holes, under grasses, in earth crevices, under dry stones or logs when disturbed. At night, we observed them sleeping under stones or logs, buried under white coloured sandy soil.
Forest fragmentations are identified as major threats. Forest clearing and the burning of bush lands for farming, plowing the soil using heavy vehicles, and the use of the pesticides also adversely affect survival of this skink. We observed several species as natural predators– birds: southern coucal (Centropus parroti), common mynah (Acridotheres tristis), and white-throated kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis); snakes: Indian krait (Bungarus caeruleus), buff-striped keelback (Amphiesma stolatum), green vine-snake (Ahaetulla nasuta), common bronzeback (Dendrelaphis tristis), and Merrem’s hump-nosed viper (Hypnale hypnale); lizards: juvenile land monitors (Varanus bengalensis).
Conservation status (Sri Lanka). The result of the application to the IUCN Red List (2013) criteria B2ab (ii, iii) indicates that the Eutropis beddomei population in Sri Lanka is Vulnerable (VU). It is restricted to an area of occupancy (AOO) <150 km 2 (6 spotting sites) with an extent of occurrence (EOO) <20,000 km 2 in the northeastern and eastern dry zones within different forested areas.
description: Published as part of Thasun Amarasinghe, A. A., Campbell, Patrick D., Chandramouli, S. R., Deuti, Kaushik, Raha, Sujoy, Suranjan Karunarathna, D. M. S. & Ineich, Ivan, 2016, Taxonomy and natural history of Eutropis beddomei (Jerdon, 1870) (Reptilia: Scincidae), including a redescription of the holotype, pp. 509-520 in Zootaxa 4132 (4) on pages 511-517, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4132.4.3, http://zenodo.org/record/255643