| Schneider's skink | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Scincidae |
| Genus: | Eumeces |
| Species: | E. schneiderii |
| Binomial name | |
| Eumeces schneiderii | |
| Synonyms [2] | |
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Eumeces schneiderii, commonly known as Schneider's skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Central Asia, Western Asia, and North Africa. There are five recognized subspecies.
Both the specific name, schneiderii, and one of the common names, Schneider's skink, are in honor of German zoologist Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider. [3]
The subspecific name, barani, is in honor of Turkish herpetologist İbrahim Baran. [4]
E. schneiderii has the following characters: Head moderate; snout short, obtuse. Nasal rather large, usually divided, in contact with the two anterior upper labials; no postnasal; 5 supraoculars, the three anterior in contact with the frontal; parietals entirely separated by the interparietal; 4 or 5 pairs of nuchals; ear-opening rather large, with 4 or 5 long pointed lobules anteriorly; 2 azygos postmentals. 22 to 28 scales round the middle of the body, perfectly smooth, the laterals smallest, those of the two median dorsal series very broad and larger than the ventrals. The length of the hind limb is contained 2.5 to 3 times in the length from snout to vent. When pressed against the body, the limbs just meet or fail to meet. A series of transversely enlarged subcaudals. [5]
Olive-grey or brownish above, uniform or with irregular golden-yellow spots or longitudinal streaks; a yellowish lateral streak, extending from below the eye to the hind limb, is constant; lower surfaces yellowish white. [5]
Size: from snout to vent, 16.5 cm (6.5 inches); plus tail, 20 cm (8 inches). [5]
Four subspecies are recognized as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies. [2]
Nota bene : A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Eumeces.
E. schneiderii is found in Eastern Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, [6] Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, western Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iran (Kavir desert), Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Transcaucasia, Russia (Dagestan), Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, eastern Georgia, southern Armenia, Azerbaijan, Asia Minor, Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, northwestern India.
The preferred natural habitats of E. schneiderii are rocky areas, grassland, shrubland, and wetlands, at altitudes of 150–1,800 m (490–5,910 ft). [1]
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.
The genus Eumeces comprises four African to Middle-Eastern skink species.
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