Eumeces schneideri

Eumeces schneideri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Sauria
Infraorder: Scincomorpha
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Eumeces
Species: E. schneideri
Binomial name
Eumeces schneideri
(Daudin, 1802)[1]
Synonyms

Eumeces schneideri, commonly known as Schneider's skink or the Berber skink, is a species of skink endemic to Central Asia, Western Asia, and North Africa.

Etymology

Both the specific name, schneideri, and one of the common names, Schneider's skink, are in honor of German zoologist, Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider.[2]

Description

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.[3]

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.[3]

Size: from snout to vent, 16.5 cm (6.5 inches); plus tail, 20 cm (8 inches).[3]

Subspecies

Five subspecies are recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies.[1]

Nota bene: A trinomial authority in parentheses indicates that the subspecies was originally described in a genus other than Eumeces.

Geographic distribution

Eastern Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt,[4] 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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  2. ↑ Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M. 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Eumeces schneideri, p. 237).
  3. 1 2 3 Boulenger GA. 1890. The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. (Eumeces schneideri, pp. 219-220).
  4. ↑ Baha el Din, Sherif (2006). A Guide to Reptiles & Amphibians of Egypt. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press. ISBN 978-9774249792.

Further reading

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