Dasia olivacea Gray 1839

• Main Authors: Shea, Glenn M., Iskandar, Djoko T.
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Chordata; Reptilia; Squamata; Scincidae; Dasia; Dasia olivacea; Prince of Wales Island; Greer
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/4323644; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4323644

The synonymy of Dasia olivacea now becomes: Dasia olivacea Gray, 1839 Dasia olivacea Gray, 1839: 331. Holotype: Museum Chatham [Museum of the Army Medical Department, Fort Pitt, Chatham] (now lost), from Prince of Wales’ Island [= Pulau Pinang, Malaysia], collector unknown. Gongylus (Euprepes) Ernestii Duméril & Bibron, 1839: 696. Holotype: Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris (MNHN) 7093, Java, via Leyden Museum [RMNH]. Synonymy by Gray (1845). Mabuia wirzi Roux, 1925: 319. Holotype: NHMB 8957, Nias [= Pulau Nias, Indonesia], collected P. Wirz. Synonymy of this paper. De Rooij (1915) also included Mabuia saravacensis Bartlett, 1895, syntypes from Santubong and Kuching, Sarawak, in the synonymy of Dasia olivacea. However, Inger and Brown (1980), who examined a syntype in the Natural History Museum London (cited by them as BMNH 99.1.20.6, though the syntype has original registration number 99.1.20.4, now reregistered as 1946.8.20.57, Kuching, Sarawak, presented Sarawak Museum—99.1.20.6 is a syntype of Lygosoma bampfyldei Bartlett, 1895), considered Mabuia saravacensis to be a synonym of Dasia grisea instead. Smith (1943) and Taylor and Smith (1950), following examination of the holotype of Euprepis microcephalus Hallowell, 1856, suggested that this species, purportedly from Mexico, was a Dasia species with an incorrect locality, although they were unable to determine its affinities within Dasia as the head of the holotype was in poor condition. Uetz et al. (2019) go further in tentatively listing this name in the synonymy of Dasia olivacea. The small size of the holotype (given as 4 inches 9 lines [4.75 inches, = 121 mm] in total length by Hallowell 1856, with snout-vent length 2 inches 1 line [2.08 inches, = 53 mm] as given in a more extended description by Hallowell 1860) would be commensurate with a juvenile of the currently known species in the genus. Juveniles of Dasia species are strongly banded (Greer 1970; Inger & Brown 1980). Given this, the description of coloration by Hallowell (1860), ...