Lygosoma

Lygosoma
Lygosoma quadrupes
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: Lygosoma
Hardwicke & Gray, 1828[1]
Type species
Anguis quadrupes
Linnaeus, 1766
Species

About 40, see text

Lygosoma is a genus of lizards, commonly known as writhing skinks, which are members of the family Scincidae. Lygosoma is the type genus of the subfamily Lygosominae.

Geographic range

Species of Lygosoma are primarily found in India, but some occur in nearby regions, such as the Philippines.

Behavior

The common name, writhing skinks, refers to the way these stubby-legged animals move, snake-like but slower and more awkwardly.

Taxonomy

In the late 19th and early 20th century, Lygosoma was used as a "wastebin taxon", to which almost every newly described skink was assigned.[2]

Species

The following species are recognized.[3][4]


Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Lygosoma.

References

  1. Hardwicke T, Gray JE. 1828. A Synopsis of the Species of Saurian Reptiles, collected in India by Major-General Hardwicke. The Zoological Journal 3: 213-229. (Lygosoma, new genus, p. 228).
  2. Shea & Michels 2008.
  3. Dahms Tierleben. http://www.dahmstierleben.de/systematik/Reptilien/Squamata/Scincomorpha/scincidae/lygosominae.
  4. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
  5. 1 2 3 Wagner P, Böhme W, Pauwels OSG, Schmitz A. 2009. A review of the African red–flanked skinks of the Lygosoma fernandi (BURTON, 1836) species group (Squamata: Scincidae) and the role of climate change in their speciation. Zootaxa 2050: 1-30.

Further reading

External links

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