Mesalina balfouri

Mesalina balfouri is a species of sand-dwelling lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is endemic to Socotra.[2]

Mesalina balfouri
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Lacertidae
Genus:	Mesalina
Species:	M. balfouri
Binomial name
Mesalina balfouri (Blanford, 1881)
Synonyms[2]
Eremias (Mesalina) balfouri Blanford, 1881 Eremias guttulata balfouri — Neumann, 1905 Mesalina olivieri balfouri — Haas, 1951 Mesalina balfouri — Arnold, 1986

Etymology

The specific name, balfouri, is in honor of Scottish botanist Isaac Bayley Balfour.[3]

Habitat

The preferred habitats of M. balfouri are rocky areas and shrubland at altitudes of 0–1,045 m (0–3,428 ft).[1]

Reproduction

M. balfouri is oviparous.[2]

References

1. Sindaco R, Grieco C, Riservato E (2011). "Mesalina balfouri ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2011: e.T199739A9124462. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T199739A9124462.en. Downloaded on 12 May 2019.
2. Mesalina balfouri at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 12 May 2019.
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. (Mesalina balfouri, p. 15).

Further reading

• Blanford WT (1881). "Notes on the Lizards collected in Socotra by Prof. I. Bayley Balfour". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1881: 464–469. ("Eremias (Mesalina) balfouri ", new species, pp. 467–469, Figure 2). (in English and Latin).
• Bütikofer L, Sacchi R, Pupin F, Pellitteri-Rosa D, Razzetti E, Pella F, Fasola M (2013). "Sexual dimorphism and allometry of the lacertid Mesalina balfouri (Blanford, 1881), endemic to the Archipelago of Socotra (Yemen)". Herpetozoa 25 (3/4): 101–108. (in English, with an abstract in German).
• Razzetti E, Sindaco R, Grieco C, Pella F, Ziliani U, Pupin F, Riservato E, Pellitteri-Rosa D, Bütikofer L, Suleiman AS, Al-Aseily BA, Carugati C, Boncompagni E, Fasola M (2011). "Annotated checklist and distribution of the Socotran Archipelago Herpetofauna (Reptilia)". Zootaxa 2826: 1-44. (Mesalina balfouri, p. 14).