Teratoscincus microlepis Nikolsky, 1899

HOLOTYPE. ZIL 9164.

TYPE LOCALITY. “ Duz-ab in Kirmano orientali”; placed between Dobaz and Zahedan, Sistan and Baluchistan Prov., Iran by Szczerbak & Golubev (1986), but a place named Dubaz is situated in Baluchistan, Pakistan, not far from the border with Iran.

DISTRIBUTION. SE Iran, S Afghanistan, W Pakistan.

DISTRIBUTION IN IRAN. Fig. 145. Kerman and Sistan and Baluchistan Prov.

HABITAT. Loose sandy soil. Reported also on saline saturated soils with a salt crust (Zarudny ex. Szczerbak & Golubev 1996).

REMARKS. Teratoscincus microlepis is a basal lineage of the genus. It is believed that it became separated as a result of the uplift of the Hindu Kush about 20 Mya (Macey et al. 1999, 2005).

REFERENCES. Minton (1966); Anderson (1993, 1999); Szczerbak & Golubev (1996); Macey et al. (1999, 2005); Khan (2006).