Sepsina copei, also known commonly as Cope's reduced-limb skink or the sepsina skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Angola.[2]

Sepsina copei
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Sepsina
Species:
S. copei
Binomial name
Sepsina copei
Bocage, 1873

Etymology edit

The specific name, copei, is in honor of American herpetologist and paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope.[3]

Habitat edit

The preferred natural habitat of S. copei is savanna, at altitudes from sea level to 600 m (2,000 ft).[1]

Description edit

S. copei may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 8 cm (3.1 in), and a tail length of 5 cm (2.0 in). The eye is small, and the lower eyelid is transparent. It has very short legs, with three toes on each foot. Dorsally, it is pale brown. Ventrally, it is whitish.[4]

Behavior edit

S. copei is terrestrial and fossorial.[1]

Reproduction edit

S. copei is viviparous.[2]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c Ceríaco, L.M.P.; Baptista, N.; Conradie, W. (2020). "Sepsina copei ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T44979338A44979340. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T44979338A44979340.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b Sepsina copei at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 20 October 2020.
  3. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Sepsina copei, p. 59).
  4. ^ 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. ("Sepsina copii [sic]", p. 421).

Further reading edit

  • "Barboza [sic] du Bocage, J. V." (1873). "Mélanges erpétologiques. II. Sur quelques Reptiles et Batraciens nouveaux, rares ou peu connus d'Afrique occidentale". Jornal de Sciencias Mathematicas Physicas e Naturaes da Academia Real das Sciencias de Lisboa 4 (15): 209–227. (Sepsina copei, new species, pp. 212–213). (in French).
  • Marques MP, Ceríaco LMP, Blackburn DC, Bauer AM (2018). "Diversity and Distribution of the Amphibians and Terrestrial Reptiles of Angola — Atlas of Historical and Bibliographic Records (1840–2017)". Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Fourth Series 65: 1–501. (Supplement II). (Sepsina copei, p. 252).