Eugongylus

Mastiff skinks or short-legged giant kinks
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia (paraphyletic)
Subclass:	Diapsida
(unranked):	Sauria
Infraclass:	Lepidosauromorpha
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Scleroglossa
Infraorder:	Scincomorpha
Family:	Scincidae
Subfamily:	Lygosominae
Genus:	Eugongylus Fitzinger, 1843
Species
Five, see text

Eugongylus is a genus of skinks in the subfamily Lygosominae. The namesake of the Eugonglyus group of genera, it occupies a quite basal position among these.^[1] Members of this genus are commonly called mastiff skinks or short-legged giant skinks.

Species

The following species are recognized as being valid.^[2]

• Eugongylus albofasciolatus (Günther, 1872) – white-banded mastiff skink, white-banded giant skink, white-striped cape skink
• Eugongylus mentovarius (Boettger, 1895) – odd-chinned mastiff skink, odd-chinned giant skink
• Eugongylus rufescens (Shaw, 1802) – bar-lipped sheen-skink
• Eugongylus sulaensis (Kopstein, 1927) – Sula skink
• Eugongylus unilineatus (de Rooij, 1915)

Notabene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Eugongylus.

References

1. Austin JJ, Arnold EN. (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)
2. Eugongylus. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading

• Fitzinger L. 1843. Systema Reptilium, Fasciculus Primus, Amblyglossae. Vienna: Braumüller & Seidel. 106 pp. + indices. (Eugongylus, new genus, p. 23). (in Latin).