Red List of South African Species

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Least Concern (LC)
Assessors: Aaron Bauer Werner Conradie
Contributors: Josh Weeber
Facilitators: Graham Alexander Krystal Tolley
Reviewers: John Measey Alex Rebelo Nicolas Telford

Rationale (Changed due to Same category and criteria)

Locally abundant in much of its range, and tolerant of low-level habitat disturbance. Urbanization, mining and agricultural activity are localized threats, but several portions of the range are protected in Addo Elephant National Park, hence this species is assessed as Least Concern.

Distribution

Endemic to the Algoa Bay region of the Eastern Cape, South Africa (Bates et al. 2014) with an extent of occurrence of ca 11,499 km2. Found from just east of  Port Elizabeth to the Hamburg area south of East London, chiefly along river valleys such as those of the Sundays River and Great Fish River. Museum records of  Acontias orientalis in the above geographical range need to be re-examined, as they may represent A. lineicauda as there is some uncertainly due to overlap in ranges.


Population trend

Trend

The population is inferred to be stable

Threats

Urbanization, mining and agricultural activity are localized threats.

Uses and trade

There is no use or trade in this species.

Conservation

No conservation actions are recommended.

References 

[@electronic{181632,
 address = {www.iucnredlist.org},
 author = {IUCN},
 title = {The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2018-2},
 year = {2018}
}
,@book{58767,
 address = {Grahamstown},
 author = {Hewitt, J.},
 publisher = {Albany Museum},
 title = {A Guide to the Vertebrate fauna of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.  Part II. Reptiles, Amphibians and Freshwater Fishes},
 year = {1937}
}
,@book{612,
 address = {Pretoria},
 author = {Bates, M.F., Branch, W.R., Bauer, A.M., Burger, M., Marais, J., Alexander, G.J. and de Villiers, M.S.},
 publisher = {Suricata 1. South African National Biodiversity Institute},
 title = {Atlas and Red List of the Reptiles of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland},
 year = {2014}
}
,@article{41230,
 author = {Lamb, T., Biswas, S. and Bauer, A.M.},
 journal = {Zootaxa},
 pages = {33--46},
 title = {A phylogenetic reassessment of African fossorial skinks in the subfamily Acontinae (Squamata: Scincidae): evidence for parallelism and polyphyly},
 volume = {2657},
 year = {2010}
}
,@article{41230,
 author = {Daniels, S.R., Heideman, N., Hendricks, M. and Wilson, B.},
 journal = {Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution},
 pages = {315--323},
 title = {A molecular phylogeny for the South African limbless lizard taxa of the subfamily Acontinae (Sauria: Scincidae) with special emphasis on relationships within <i>Acontias</i>},
 volume = {24},
 year = {2002}
}
,@article{41230,
 author = {Daniels, S.R., Heideman, N.J.L., Hendricks, M.G.J. and Crandall, K.A.},
 journal = {Zoologica Scripta},
 number = {4},
 pages = {353--362},
 title = {Taxonomic subdivisions within the fossorial skink subfamily Acontinae (Squamata: Scincidae) reconsidered: a multilocus perspective},
 volume = {35},
 year = {2006}
}
,@article{44974254,
 author = {Broadley, D.G. and Greer, A.E.},
 journal = {Arnoldia (Rhodesia)},
 pages = {1--27},
 title = {A revision of the genus <i>Acontias</i> Cuvier (Sauria: Scincidae)},
 volume = {4},
 year = {1969}
}
,@article{44974868,
 author = {Daniels, S.R., Heideman, N., Hendricks, M.G.J., Mokone, M.E. and Crandall, K.A.},
 journal = {Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution},
 pages = {645--654},
 title = {Unraveling evolutionary lineages in the limbless fossorial skink genus <i>Acontias</i>: are subspecies equivalent systematic units?},
 volume = {34},
 year = {2005}
}
,@article{44974868,
 author = {Daniels, S.R., Heideman, N.J.L. and Hendricks, M.G.J.},
 journal = {Zoologica Scripta},
 number = {5},
 pages = {449--463},
 title = {Examination of evolutionary relationships in the Cape fossorial skink species complex (Acontinae: <i>Acontias meleagris meleagris</i>) reveals the presence of five cryptic lineages},
 volume = {38},
 year = {2009}
}
,@article{44974868,
 author = {Engelbrecht, H.M., Van Niekerk, A., Heideman, N.J.L. and Daniels, S.R},
 journal = {Journal of Biogeography },
 pages = {492--506},
 title = {Tracking the impact of Pliocene/Pleistocene sea level and climatic oscillations on the cladogenesis of the Cape legless skink, <i>Acontias meleagris</i> species complex, in South Africa.},
 volume = {40},
 year = {2013}
}
,]
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