title: Taxonomy and natural history of Eutropis beddomei (Jerdon, 1870) (Reptilia: Scincidae), including a redescription of the holotype.
abstract: Euprepes beddomei was described by Jerdon (1870) from "Mysore" (Karnataka State, India). Simultaneously, Euprepes (Tiliqua) septemlineatus, which is morphologically similar to E. beddomei, was described by Blanford (1870) based on a single specimen collected from the Ganga River Valley, Southeast Berar, Madhya Pradesh, India. Smith (1935) synonymised the latter species (published in September, 1870) with Euprepes beddomei which in turn was published earlier (March, 1870). Jerdon's publication should therefore be given priority. A comprehensive comparison between the holotypes of the above two species confirms that E. septemlineatus is a junior synonym of E. beddomei. Based on morphological characters, Eutropis beddomei is here clearly identified and can be considered a widespread species in India and Sri Lanka. The original description of E. beddomei is very short and lacks a description containing most of the important diagnostic characters; hence, we hereby provide a comprehensive description of the species based on the examination of its holotype.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Climate Change, University of Indonesia, Gd. PAU Lt. 8.5, Kampus UI, Depok 16424, Indonesia; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: A A Thasun
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Amarasinghe
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Darwin Centre, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London SW7 5BD, England; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Patrick D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: Wildlife Institute of India, P.O. Box 18, Chandrabani, Dehradun 248001, India; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Chandramouli
authors.affiliation: Zoological Survey of India, Herpetology Division, 27, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Kolkata 700016, India; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Kaushik
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Deuti
authors.affiliation: Zoological Survey of India, Herpetology Division, 27, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Kolkata 700016, India; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Sujoy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raha
authors.affiliation: Nature Explorations & Education Team, No: B-1 / G-6, De Soysapura Flats, Moratuwa 10400, Sri Lanka; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: D M S Suranjan
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Karunarathna
authors.affiliation: Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Institut de Systématique, Évolution et Biodiversité, UMR 7205 (CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE), 57 rue Cuvier, F-75005 Paris, France; Email: unknown.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ineich
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000825:Animal Structures; D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D007194:India; D008116:Lizards / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000254:growth & development; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D013188:Sri Lanka