Reptiles Database

Scincus scincus LINNAEUS, 1758

                    
 

Higher Taxa

Scincidae, Sauria (lizards

Subspecies

Scincus scincus albifasciatus BOULENGER 1890
Scincus scincus conirostris BLANFORD 1881
Scincus scincus cucullatus WERNER 1914
Scincus scincus laterimaculatus WERNER 1914
Scincus scincus meccensis WIEGMANN 1837
Scincus scincus scincus (LINNAEUS 1758

Common Name

Sandfish Skink

Synonym

Lacerta stincus [sic] LINNAEUS 1758: 205 (in error?)
Scincus officinalis LAURENTI 1768
Scincus officinalis — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 564
Scincus officinalis — BOULENGER 1891: 138
Scincus officinalis — HEMPRICH & EHRENBERG in TORNIER 1899
Scincus officianalis — BAUER 2004 (in error)
Scincus scincus — GRANDISON 1956
Scincus officinalis — MEERMAN 1979
Scincus scincus — SCHLEICH, KÄSTLE & KABISCH 1996: 359
Scincus scincus — GRIFFITH, NGO & MURPHY 2000

Scincus scincus albifasciatus BOULENGER 1890
Scincus albifasciatus — MERTENS 1972
Scincus scincus albifasciatus — ARNOLD & LEVITON 1977
Scincus scincus albifasciatus — SCHLEICH, KÄSTLE & KABISCH 1996
Scincus albifasciatus — BONS & PASTEUR 1996
Scincus albifasciatus — PADIAL 2006
Scincus albifasciatus albifasciatus — CARRANZA et al. 2008

Scincus scincus conirostris BLANFORD 1881
Scincus conirostris BLANFORD 1881
Scincus muscatensis WERNER 1895
Scincus conirostris — ANDERSON 1896: 49
Scincus conirostris — SCHMIDT 1939
Scincus gasperetti HAAS 1957

Scincus scincus cucullatus WERNER 1914
Scincus scincus cucullatus — SCHLÜTER 2005

Scincus scincus laterimaculatus WERNER 1914
Scincus scincus laterimaculatus — SCHLEICH, KÄSTLE & KABISCH 1996
Scincus albifasciatus laterimaculatus — CARRANZA et al. 2008

Scincus scincus meccensis WIEGMANN 1837
Scincus meccensis WIEGMANN 1837
Scincus meccensis — TORNIER 1899
Scincus deserti HAAS 1957
Scincus scincus meccensis — ARNOLD & LEVITON 1977

Location

Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, SE Libya, Egypt, Sinai, Israel, Jordan,
Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran
Western Sahara ?, Mauritania ?, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia

albifasciatus: Dakar, Senegal to Atar in C Mauritania

Type locality: “in montosis Lybiae, Aegypti, Arabiae petrae

Holotype

Holotype: ZMB 1178 from “Arabia” [= along the shore near Jiddah or ... toward Makkah (fide Schätti & Günther 2001) [meccensis]
Holotype: CAS 84519 [conirostris

Comment

JOHANN (1981) also mentions S. s. cucullatus from Algeria.

Scincus stincus PETERS 1864 is the type species of the genus Scincus.

Diagnosis of the genus Scincus (fide GRIFFITH et al. 2000): Heavy limbs with robust pes, expanded lamellae on digits and phalanges, short-tailed. Conical head, convex in lateral view, parietal bone with clear lateral indentations and supratemporal fontanelle open. Sexual dimorphism in head proportions not distinct. Spatulate rostrum supported by extended fused premaxillae. Strong ventrolateral keels running from upper labial scales to sacral region (convergent with other genera of sand-swimming lizards). Scales thick, separated by deep sutures. Two loreals, second fused with first of two presuboculars. Postnasal present. Palpebral and superciliary scales separated by groove. Usually four or five pairs of nuchal scales. Broadened mid-dorsal scales, mid-dorsal rows not fused. Medial preanal scales enlarged, lateral edges coincide with ventrolateral keels. Small, ventrally directed ear opening covered by several overlapping lobules. Color pattern variable, but generally consisting of transverse stripes or bars on pale background. From Saharan Africa, eastward to southern Iran

References
  • Anderson, John 1896. A Contribution to the Herpetology of Arabia, with a preliminary list of the reptiles and batrachians of Egypt. London, R. H. Porter, 124 pp.
  • Anderson,S.C. 1963. Amphibians and Reptiles from Iran. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. Ser. 4, 31(16): 417-498
  • Arnold, Edwin Nicholas & Leviton, Alan E. 1977. A revision of the lizard genus Scincus (Reptilia: Scincidae). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) 31 (5): 187-248
  • Baha El Din, Sherif M. and Omar Attum 2000. The herpetofauna of Zaranik Protected Area, Egypt, with notes on their ecology and conservation. Herpetological Bulletin (73):17-21.
  • Bauer, A.M. 2004. Die “Symbolae physicae” und die Herpetologie der Expedition von HEMPRICH und EHRENBERG nach Ägpypten und dem nahen Osten. Sekretär 3 (2): 4-17
  • Baumgartner, Werner; Florian Fidler, Agnes Weth, Martin Habbecke, Peter Jakob, Christoph Butenweg, Wolfgang Böhme 2008. Investigating the Locomotion of the Sandfish in Desert Sand Using NMR-Imaging. PloS ONE 3: e3308
  • Boulenger, George A. 1891. Catalogue of the reptiles and batrachians of Barbary (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), based chiefly upon the notes and collections made in 1880-1884 by M. Fernand Lataste. Tr. Zool. Soc. 13: 93-164
  • Carranza, S.; E.N. Arnold, Ph. Geniez, J. Roca and J.A. Mateo 2008. Radiation, multiple dispersal and parallelism in the skinks, Chalcides and Sphenops (Squamata: Scincidae), with comments on Scincus and Scincopus and the age of the Sahara Desert Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 46 (3): 1071-1094
  • Duméril, A. M. C. and G. Bibron. 1839. Erpétologie Générale on Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles. Vol.5. Roret/Fain et Thunot, Paris, 871 pp.
  • El-Toubi, M.R. 1938. The osteology of the lizard Scincus scincus (Linn.). Bull. Fac. Sci., Cairo. Fouad I University 14:5-38
  • Grandison,A.G.C. 1956. On a collection of lizards from West Africa. Bull. Inst. fr. Afr. Noire, 18 (1): 224-245 [235].
  • Griffith, H., A. Ngo & R. W. Murphy 2000. A cladistic evaluation of the cosmopolitan genus Eumeces Wiegmann (Reptilia, Squamata, Scincidae). Russ. J. Herpetol. 7 (1): 1-16
  • Haas, Georg 1957. Some amphibians and reptiles from Arabia. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 29 (3): 47-86
  • Hartmann 1989. Beitrag zur Biologie des Apothekerskinks Scincus scincus (Linnaeus,1758), Teil 2: Apothekerskinke im Terrarium. Herpetofauna 11 (60): 12-24
  • Hartmann 1989. Beitrag zur Biologie des Apothekerskinks Scincus scincus (Linnaeus,1758), Teil 1: Taxonomie, Verbreitung, Morphologie und Ökologie. Herpetofauna 11 (59): 17-25
  • Johann, H. 1981. Herpetologische Eindrücke auf einer Reise durch die Sahara. Herpetofauna 3 (13): 17-21
  • Leviton,A.E.; Anderson,S.C.; Adler, K.; Minton,S.A. 1992. Handbook to Middle East Amphibians and Reptiles. SSAR, Oxford, Ohio (Contr. to Herpetol. No. 8), 1-252
  • Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii, Holmiæ. 10th Edition: 824 pp.
  • Loveridge,A. 1936. African reptiles and amphibians in the Field Museum of Natural History. Zool. Ser. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Chicago, 22 (1): 1-122 [53].
  • Maladen, Ryan D.; Yang Ding; Chen Li & Daniel I. Goldman 2009. Undulatory Swimming in Sand: Subsurface Locomotion of the Sandfish Lizard. Science 325 (5938): 314 - 318
  • Meerman, J.C. 1979. Herpetologische waarnemingen in Tunesië [with key]. Lacerta 37 (12): 170-177
  • Mohsen Kalboussi, Gennaro Aprea, Andrea Splendiani, Massimo Giovannotti, Vincenzo Caputo 2006. Standard karyotypes of two populations of Scincus from Tunisia and Morocco (Reptilia: Scincidae). Acta Herpetologica 1 (2): 127-130
  • Purser, P.A. 2003. Scincus scincus - The sandfish skink. Reptilia (GB) (31): 51-54
  • Schätti,B. & Günther, R. 2001. Type localities opf amphibian and reptile species collected by Hemprich and Ehrenberg in sothwestern Arabia and Eritrea. Mitt. Mus. Naturk. Berlin Zool. Reihe 77: 153-156
  • Schleich,H.H., Kästle,W., Kabisch, K. 1996. Amphibians and Reptiles of North Africa. Koeltz, Koenigstein, 627 pp.
  • Schlüter, U. 2005. Chott el Djerid. Reptilia (Münster) 10 (5): 44-50
  • Schmidt, K. P. & Marx, H. 1956. The herpetology of Sinai. Fieldiana 39 (4): 21-40
  • Schmidt,K.P. 1939. Reptiles and amphibians from Southwestern Asia. Publ. Field Mus. nat. Hist., zool. Ser., 24: 49-92
  • Siebenrock, Friedrich 1895. Zur Kenntnis des Rumpfskeletes der Scincoiden, Anguiden und Gerrhosauriden. Annalen des Königlichen Kaiserlichen Naturhistorischen Hofmuseum in Wien (Wien), 10 (1): 17-41.
  • Tornier,G. 1899. Reptilia. In: Carlgren,O., Hilgendorf,F., Martens, E. von, Matschie, P., Tornier, G., & Weltner, W. (eds.). Symbolae physicae seu icones adhuc ineditae corporum naturalium novorum aut minus cognitorum quae ex itineribus per Libyam, Aegyptum, Nubiam,k Dongalam, Syriam, Arabiam et Habessiniam publico institutis sumptu F.G. Hemprich et C.G. Ehrenberg. Zoologica 1, Amphibia. G. Reimer, Berlin.
  • Whiting, A.S.; Aaron M. Bauer and Jack W. Sites, Jr. 2003. Phylogenetic relationships and limb loss in sub-Saharan African scincine lizards (Squamata: Scincidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 29 (3): 582-598
  • Wiegmann, A. F. A. 1837. Herpetologische Notizen. Archiv für Naturgeschichte 3: 123-136


 
 
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