Liopholis

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Liopholis
Egernia whitii.jpg
White's skink (Liopholis whitii)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Subfamily: Egerniinae
Genus: Liopholis
Fitzinger, 1843
Type species
Lygosoma moniligera
Species

13 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]

Contents

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 13 recognized species: [2]

ImageScientific NameCommon NameDistribution
Liopholis aputja Farquhar et al., 2024Central Ranges rock skinkNorth-western South Australia.
Liopholis guthega Donnellan, Hutchinson, Dempsey & Osborne, 2002Snowy Mountains skink, guthega skink, alpine egerniasouth-eastern 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 skinkNorthern Territory and Western Australia.
Liopholis margaretae (Storr, 1968)MacDonnell Ranges rock-skink, Flinder's Ranges rock-skinkcentral Australia.
Liopholis modesta (Storr, 1968)Eastern Ranges rock-skinkeastern Australia
Liopholis montana Donnellan, Hutchinson, Dempsey & Osborne, 2002montane rock-skink, mountain egernia, "mountain skink"south-eastern Australia
Liopholis multiscutata (Mitchell & Behrndt, 1949)bull skink, southern sand-skink, heath skinksouthern Australia
Liopholis personata (Storr, 1968)southern Australia
Liopholis pulchra (F. Werner, 1910)southwestern rock-skink, spectacled rock skink, Jurien Bay rock-skinksouth-western Australia
Liopholis slateri (Storr, 1968)Slater's desert skink, Centralian Floodplains desert-skink, Slater's egernia, Slater's skinkNorthern Territory and Southern Australia in central Australia
Liopholis striata (Sternfeld, 1919)night skink, nocturnal desert-skink, striated egerniawestern Australia
White's Skink, NSW.jpg Liopholis whitii (Lacépède, 1804) White's skink, White's rock-skinksouth-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.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skink</span> Family of reptiles

Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Skinks are characterized by their smaller legs in comparison to typical lizards and are found in different habitats except arctic and subarctic regions.

<i>Egernia</i> Genus of lizards

Egernia is a genus of skinks that occurs in Australia. These skinks are ecologically diverse omnivores that inhabit a wide range of habitats. However, in the loose delimitation the genus is not monophyletic but an evolutionary grade, as has long been suspected due to its lack of characteristic apomorphies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cunningham's spiny-tailed skink</span> Species of lizard

Cunningham's spiny-tailed skink, also known commonly as Cunningham's skink, is a species of large skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is native to southeastern Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King's skink</span> Species of lizard

King's skink is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia.

The great desert skink, also known commonly as Kintore's egernia and by various other names including tjakura in various Aboriginal Australian languages, is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is native to the western half of Australia. It is a burrowing lizard and extremely social.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lygosominae</span> Subfamily of lizards

Lygosominae is the largest subfamily of skinks in the family Scincidae. The subfamily can be divided into a number of genus groups. If the rarely used taxonomic rank of infrafamily is employed, the genus groups would be designated as such, but such a move would require a formal description according to the ICZN standards.

<i>Lissolepis</i> Genus of lizards

Lissolepis is a genus of mid-sized skinks with a bulky angular body and small eyes. 20–28 rows of midbody scales; dorsal scales smooth. The nasal scale has a postnarial groove; the subocular scale row is complete. Eyelids similar in colour to the adjacent scales. They were previously placed in the genus Egernia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stokes's skink</span> Species of lizard

Egernia stokesii is a gregarious species of lizard of the Scincidae family. This diurnal species is endemic to Australia, and is also known as the Gidgee skink, spiny-tailed skink, Stokes's skink and Stokes's egernia. The species forms stable, long-term social aggregations, much like the social groups seen in mammalian and avian species. This characteristic is rarely found in the Squamata order, but is widespread within the Australian subfamily of Egerniinae skinks. Populations of E. stokesii are widely distributed, but fragmented, and occur in semi-arid environments. There are three recognised subspecies. The conservation status for the species is listed as least concern, however, one subspecies is listed as endangered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tree-crevice skink</span> Species of lizard

The tree-crevice skink or tree skink (Egernia striolata) is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia and is found in the states of Victoria, the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia. E. striolata tend to live in crevices and cracks in hollow logs or rocks. They greatly prefer heterogeneous and structurally diverse habitats and their behavior changes depending on the habitat they live in.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern mourning skink</span> Species of lizard

The eastern mourning skink, also known commonly as Coventry's spinytail skink and the swamp skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black rock skink</span> Species of lizard

The black rock skink is a species of large skink native to Eastern and Southern Australia from central New South Wales to Grampians National Park in Victoria. A large, dark colored skink, up to 135 mm from snout to base of the tail, the black rock skink is the first reptile discovered to have a "nuclear family" structure where the parents form a pair and care for their offspring for more than one year. The black rock skink is a viviparous skink meaning females give birth to live offspring instead of laying eggs. They defend their home range and families against conspecifics for up to several years.

The saltbush slender bluetongue is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to the arid interior of eastern Australia. Although its conservation status is of least concern, it has been listed as endangered in New South Wales. The slender saltbush bluetongue has been recorded in Sturt National Park in New South Wales but extends into northeast South Australia and south-west Queensland.

Egernia douglasi, also known commonly as the Kimberley crevice-skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia.

The Snowy Mountains skink or guthega skink, alpine egernia is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to southeastern Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desert egernia</span> Species of lizard

The desert egernia, unadorned desert-skink or desert skink is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The desert egernia is endemic to the continent of Australia, and is widespread, with populations recorded in all mainland states and territories except the Australian Capital Territory. The desert egernia is found in dry, desert areas with deep, uncompacted sandy/loamy soils and little significant vegetation cover.

The Eastern Ranges rock-skink is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to eastern Australia.

The montane rock-skink, mountain egernia or mountain skink is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to southeastern Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bull skink</span> Species of lizard

The bull skink, southern sand-skink or southern heath skink is a species of terrestrial skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. It is one of eleven species within the Liopholis genus.

Slater's desert skink, also known commonly as the Centralian Floodplains desert-skink, Slater's egernia, and Slater's skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia. There are two recognized subspecies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Night skink</span> Species of lizard

The night skink, nocturnal desert-skink or striated egernia is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to western Australia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 Liopholis at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 20 September 2018.

Further reading