Ristella

Ristella
Ristella travancorica from the Western Ghats.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Sauria
Infraorder: Scincomorpha
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Ristella
Gray, 1839[1]

Ristella is a genus of skinks endemic to southern India, which are commonly known as cat skinks because of their retractile claws.

A Ristella from Dandeli in the Western Ghats.

Description

Palatine and pterygoid bones in contact on the median line of the palate, which is toothless;palatine notch small, far behind, corresponding to the posterior notch of the tongue. Teeth conical. Eyelids well developed, scaly. Ear-opening distinct. Nostril pierced in a single nasal; no supranasals; prefrontals small or coalesced; frontoparietals and interparietal distinct. Limbs well developed, anterior with 4, posterior with 5 digits; claws completely retractile into a large compressed sheath formed of one large scale cleft beneath.[2]

Geographic range

Found in the hill-tracts of southern India.[2]

Key to species

The retractile claws which give Ristella the common name of cat skinks.

Species

The following four species are recognized:[3]

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

References

  1. Dahms Tierleben. www.dahmstierleben.de.
  2. 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. (Genus Ristella, p. 214).
  3. The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading

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