Reply to ‘Further comments on the systematic status of Lygosoma vosmaerii(Gray, 1839)’ by Raju Vyas

C.Srinivasulu ¹ & M. Seetharamaraju²

^1,2Department of Zoology, University College of Science, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh 500007, India

Email: ¹ hyd2masawa@gmail.com

Date of publication (online): 26 January 2010

Date of publication (print): 26 January 2010

ISSN 0974-7907 (online) | 0974-7893 (print)

Manuscript details:

Ms # o2390

Received 22 January 2009

Citation: Srinivasulu, C. & M. Seetharamaraju(2010). Reply to ‘Further comments on the systematic status of Lygosoma vosmaerii(Gray, 1839)’ by Raju Vyas.Journal of Threatened Taxa 2(1): 675.

Copyright: © C. Srinivasulu & M. Seetharamaraju2010. Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 UnportedLicense. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this article in any medium for non-profit purposes, reproduction and distribution by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publication.

Reacting to the publication by Seetharamaraju et al. (2009) on the matter concerned Vyas (2010) put forward an opinion that the taxonomic status of Lygosoma vosmaerii (Gray, 1839) (Reptilia:Scincidae) is still a ‘debatable subject’. Vyas (2010) relies greatly on the fact that Boulenger (1890) synonymized Lygosoma vosmaerii(Gray, 1839) with Lygosoma lineata (Gray, 1839) treating the former as an ‘apparently anamolous specimen’ and Vyas (2001, 2009) seconded this opinion based on the observation of a specimen (BNHM 1453) from VelavadarNational Park, Bhavanagar district, Gujarat. The Gujarat specimen bears five fingers in right forelimb and was collected while ‘it was found along with other few live specimens of L. lineata’ (Vyas2001, 2010). This very fact clearly indicates that the specimen (BNHM 1453) is indeed an anamolous Lygosoma lineata(Gray, 1839)!

The rediscovery of Lygosoma vosmaerii(Gray, 1839) reported by Seetharamaraju et al. (2009) is based on a single specimen (NHM.OU.REP.1-2009) collected at Jaggayapet, Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh. We could not collect or sight another specimen of either the same species or any other Lygosomineskink during careful search efforts, over 90 man-hours, conducted by us in the vicinity of the collection site. Lygosoma lineata (Gray, 1839) is yet to be reported from Andhra Pradesh (Sanyal et al. 1993; Srinivasulu& Das 2008).

We are of the opinion that the description of Lygosoma vosmaerii, based on a single specimen (holotype MNHN 777) by Gray (1839), it being distinct from Lygosoma lineataonly in possessing five fingers, and presence of only a single specimen prompted Boulenger (1890) to consider it as anamolous specimen of the latter. Lack of additional specimen/s of Lygosoma vosmaeriiresulted in continuation of this confusion, though subsequent workers treated both these species as distinct (Smith 1935; Sharma 2002). Vyas (2001) attempted to clarify the taxonomic status and synonymized Lygosoma vosmaerii(Gray, 1839) with Lygosoma lineata (Gray, 1839). In our opinion, the specimen from Gujarat, India (BNHM 1453) is indeed an anamolous Lygosoma lineata (Gray, 1831) and the specimen from Jaggayapet, Andhra Pradesh is true Lygosoma vosmaerii as it matches the type description and also is from the region closer to the type locality.

We agree with Vyas (2010) that genetic analysis will be an important tool in resolving the true identity of these closely resembling species.

References

Boulenger, G.A. (1890). The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Reptiliaand Batrachia. Taylor and Francis, London, xviii + 541pp.

Gray, J.E. (1839). Catalogue of the slender- tongued saurians, with descriptions of many new genera and species. Annals and Magazines of Natural History, 2: 331-337.

Sanyal, D.P., B. Dattagupta & N.C. Gayen(1993). Reptilia.pp 1-63. In: Ghosh, A. K. (ed.), Fauna of Andhra Pradesh, Part 1. (Reptilia, Amphibia, Fishes). Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta.

Seetharamaraju, M., R. Sreekar, C. Srinivasulu, B. Srinivasulu, H. Kaur & P. Venkateshwarlu (2009). Rediscovery of Vosmer’s Writhing Skink Lygosoma vosmaerii (Gray, 1839) (Reptilia:Scincidae) with a note on its taxonomy. Journal of Threatened Taxa 1(12): 624-626.

Sharma, R.C. (2002). The Fauna of India and Adjacent Countries. Reptilia, Vol. II, Sauria. Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, xxv+430pp.

Smith, M.A. (1935). The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia& Amphibia, Vol. II, Sauria. Taylor and Francis, London, xiii+440pp.

Srinivasulu, C. & I. Das (2008).The Herpetofauna of NallamalaHills, Eastern Ghats, India: An Annotated Checklist with Remarks on Nomenclature, Taxonomy, Habitat Use, Adaptive Types and Biogeography. Asiatic Herpetological Research 11: 110-131.

Vyas, R. (2001). Notes on the distribution of Lygosoma lineata (Gray, 1839) and comments on the systematic status of Lygosoma vosmaerii (Gray, 1839). Hamadryad 26(2): 360-361.

Vyas, R. (2009). Notes on the distribution and natural history of an endemic skink from India: Lygosoma lineata(Gray, 1839). Sauria 31(1): 45-50.

Vyas, R. (2010). Further comments on the systematic status of Lygosoma vosmaerii (Gray, 1839). Journal of threatened Taxa 2(1): 674.