Biology:Liopholis

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Short description: Genus of lizards

Liopholis
Egernia whitii.jpg
White's skink (Liopholis whitii)
Scientific classification e
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Subfamily: Egerniinae
Genus: Liopholis
Fitzinger, 1843
Type species
Lygosoma moniligera
A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1839
Species

12 species (see text)

Synonyms[1]

Flamoscincus
Wells & Wellington, 1984

Liopholis is a genus of skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae.[2] Species of the genus are found in the Australian region. They were previously placed in the genus Egernia.[1]

Description

Liopholis are smallish to largish-sized skinks. They may attain an adult snout-vent length (SVL) of 75–200 mm (3.0–7.9 in), with a bulky angular body. They have 34–52 rows of midbody scales; dorsal scales are usually smooth. The nasal scale has no postnarial groove; the subocular scale row is incomplete. The eyes are relatively large, and the eyelids usually have conspicuous cream-coloured margins.[1]

Species

There are 12 recognized species:[2]

Image Scientific Name Common Name Distribution
Liopholis guthega Donnellan, Hutchinson, Dempsey & Osborne, 2002 Snowy Mountains skink, guthega skink, alpine egernia southeastern Australia.
Liopholis inornata3.jpg Liopholis inornata (Rosén, 1905) desert egernia, unadorned desert-skink, "desert skink" central Western Australia, most of inland South Australia, southern Northern Territory, south-west Queensland, western New South Wales and a small part of north-west Victoria
Liopholis kintorei (Stirling & Zietz, 1893) Great Desert skink Northern Territory and Western Australia.
Liopholis margaretae (Storr, 1968) Centralian Ranges rock-skink, Flinder's Ranges rock-skink central Australia.
Liopholis modesta (Storr, 1968) Eastern Ranges rock-skink eastern Australia
Liopholis montana Donnellan, Hutchinson, Dempsey & Osborne, 2002 montane rock-skink, mountain egernia, "mountain skink" southeastern Australia
Liopholis multiscutata (Mitchell & Behrndt, 1949) bull skink, southern sand-skink, heath skink southern Australia
Liopholis personata (Storr, 1968) southern Australia
Liopholis pulchra (F. Werner, 1910) southwestern rock-skink, spectacled rock skink, Jurien Bay rock-skink southwestern Australia
Liopholis slateri (Storr, 1968) Slater's desert skink, Centralian Floodplains desert-skink, Slater's egernia, Slater's skink Northern Territory and Southern Australia in central Australia
Liopholis striata (Sternfeld, 1919) night skink, nocturnal desert-skink, striated egernia western Australia
White's Skink, NSW.jpg Liopholis whitii (Lacépède, 1804) White's skink, White's rock-skink south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania and many Bass Strait islands

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Liopholis.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Gardner, Michael G.; Hugall, Andrew F.; Donnellan, Stephen C.; Hutchinson, Mark N.; Foster, Ralph (2008). "Molecular systematics of social skinks: phylogeny and taxonomy of the Egernia group (Reptilia: Scincidae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 154 (4): 781–794. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2008.00422.x. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 Liopholis at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 20 September 2018.

Further reading

  • Fitzinger L (1843). Systema Reptilium, Fasciculus Primus, Amblyglossae. Vienna: Braumüller & Seidel. 106 pp. + indices. (Liopholis, new genus, p. 22). (in Latin).

Wikidata ☰ Q749263 entry