Scincus
Scincus is a genus of skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae. The genus contains four species, all of which are typical desert inhabitants, living in sandy and dune-like areas with a hot and dry climate. Species in the genus Scincus can be found from Arabia to the Sahara desert.
| Scincus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Scincus scincus, common skink or common sandfish | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Scincidae |
| Subfamily: | Scincinae |
| Genus: | Scincus Laurenti, 1768 |
| Species | |
|
Four, see text. | |
Taxonomy
Scincus is the type genus of the subfamily Scincinae. As the subfamily Scincinae appears to be paraphyletic and is in need of revision, it is as yet undetermined which skink genera are closely enough related to Scincus to be retained in the Scincinae. (Austin & Arnold 2006).
Species
The genus Scincus contains four species which are recognized as being valid.[1]
- Scincus albifasciatus Boulenger, 1890
- Scincus hemprichii Wiegmann, 1837
- Scincus mitranus Anderson, 1871 – eastern sandfish or eastern skink
- Scincus scincus (Linnaeus, 1758) – common sandfish or common skink
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Scincus.
References
- "Scincus ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
Further reading
- Austin, J.J. & Arnold, E.N. (2006). "Using ancient and recent DNA to explore relationships of extinct and endangered Leiolopisma skinks (Reptilia: Scincidae) in the Mascarene islands". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39 (2): 503–511. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.12.011 (HTML abstract).