Northeast and east India, and eastern Sri Lanka. 

Species:

Ophisops minor  (DERANIYAGALA, 1971)

Subspecies (2):

Ophisops minor minor  (DERANGIYALGANA, 1971)

Ophisops minor nictans  ARNOLD, 1989

Synonyms:

Cabrita jerdonii   BEDDOME, 1870

Cabrita jerdonii minor   DERANGIYALGANA, 1971

Ophisops nictans   ARNOLD, 1989

Common names:

Lesser Snake-eyed Lizard (English)
Schlangenaugeneidechse (German)
Kuda sarpakshi katussa (Sinhala - Sri Lanka)

Types:

Holotype: NMSL (Colombo National Museum) 1971.1.1; paratypes: 14 specimen, also in Colombo

Terra Typica:

minor: Bulupitiya-Nilgara, Uva province, Sri Lanka.

nictans: `Cavery valley, S.E. Berár`.


Taxonomic notes:

This species originally described as Cabrita jerdonii BEDDOME 1870 had to be renamed with the union of Cabrita with Ophisops by ARNOLD (1989), because an Ophisops jerdonii already existed! Finally, the new name O. nictans proposed by ARNOLD had to be corrected for the total species to O. minor for reasons of priority.

WERNER MAYER


Relevant taxonomic literature:

  • Deraniyagala, P. (1971) -  A new lizard from Ceylon. -  Spolia zeylanica, 32: 103-105.  

  • Böhme, W. & Bischoff, W. (1991) -  On the proper denomination of Cabrita jerdonii Beddome, 1870 (Reptilia: Lacertidae). -  Amphibia-Reptilia, Leiden 12: 220-221.  

  • Agarwal, I. & Ramakrishnan, U. (2017) -  A phylogeny of open-habitat lizards (Squamata: Lacertidae: Ophisops) supports the antiquity of Indian grassy biomes. -  Journal of Biogeography, 44 (9): 2021-2032.    

 
 
 
 

Ophisops minor: 5  pictures (see subspecies level)

 
 
 

Ophisops minor nictans  © 2010 Vivek Sarkar