Chalcides bottegi, also known commonly as Bottego's cylindrical skink or the ocellated skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is native to East Africa, the Horn of Africa, and Northeast Africa.

Chalcides bottegi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Chalcides
Species:
C. bottegi
Binomial name
Chalcides bottegi
Boulenger, 1898
Synonyms[2]
  • Chalcides bottegi
    Boulenger, 1898
  • Chalcides ocellatus bottegi
    Drewes, 1972
  • Chalcides ragazzii bottegi
    G. Pasteur, 1981
  • Chalcides bottegi
    Greenbaum et al., 2006

Etymology

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The specific name, bottegi, is in honor of Italian explorer Vittorio Bottego.[3]

Geographic range

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C. bottegi is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, and Sudan.[2]

Habitat

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The preferred natural habitats of C. bottegi are savanna and forest, at altitudes of 300–500 m (980–1,640 ft).[1]

Description

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Large for its genus,[2] the holotype of C. bottegi has a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 12.5 cm (4.9 in) and a regenerated tail.[4]

Behavior

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C. bottegi is terrestrial, and it is probably diurnal.[1]

Reproduction

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C. bottegi is viviparous.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Spawls S, Malonza P (2021). "Chalcides bottegi ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2021: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2021-1.RLTS.T13152314A13152316.en. Downloaded on 09 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "Chalcides bottegi Boulenger, 1898. The Reptile Database".
  3. ^ Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Chalcides bottegi, p. 33).
  4. ^ Boulenger (1898).

Further reading

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  • Boulenger GA (1898). "Concluding Report on the late Capt. Bottego's collection of Reptiles and Batrachians from Somaliland and British East Africa". Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova, Serie Seconda [=Second Series] 18: 715–723. + Plates IX–X. (Chalcides bottegi, new species, pp. 719–720 + Plate X, figures 1 & 1a).
  • Greenbaum E, Campbell AC, Raxworthy CJ (2006). "A Revision of Sub-Saharan Chalcides (Squamata: Scincidae), with Redescriptions of Two East African Species". Herpetologica 62 (1): 71–89. (Chalcides bottegi, p. 78). (in English, with an abstract in French).
  • Neumann O (1905). "Über nordost-afrikanische und arabische Kriektiere. Im Anschluss an Gustav Tornier's vorangehende Abhandlung ". Zoologische Jahrbücher. Abteilung für Systematik, Geographie und Biologie der Tiere 22 (4): 389–404. (Chalcides bottegi, p. 401). (in German).
  • 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. (Chalcides bottegi, p. 166).