The genus Eumeces (family Scincidae) comprises four to Middle-Eastern skink species.
Systematics
Recently two taxonomic revisions have been made regarding the 19th century
genus Eumeces. They both resulted in similar results; the
genus is
paraphyletic and must be "sliced up" into several different
genus. Griffith
et al. (2000) proposed that the
type species for
Eumeces,
E. pavimentatus, which is considered by many to be a
subspecies of
Eumeces schneiderii, should be changed to
Lacerta fasciata, so that the
genus name
Eumeces would stay with the most species-rich
clade. However, this petition has not been verified by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. Schimtz
et al. argued that Griffith
et al. violated the Code and rejected the proposal on good grounds. Thus only the African
species of the
Eumeces schneiderii group belong to the
genus Eumeces.
Within Eumeces the following species are recognized:
-
Eumeces algeriensis – Algerian skink
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Eumeces blythianus – Blyth's skink
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Eumeces cholistanensis
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Eumeces indothalensis – striped mole skink
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Eumeces persicus – Persian striped skink
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Eumeces schneiderii – Schneider's skink
-
Eumeces zarudnyi
Some species that were formerly considered
Eumeces have now been assigned to new genera:
Now in Plestiodon:
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Plestiodon anthracinus, coal skink
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Plestiodon barbouri, Barbour's skink (Japan)
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Plestiodon brevirostris, short-nosed skink (Mexico)
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Plestiodon callicephalus, North American mountain skink
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Plestiodon capito
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Plestiodon chinensis, Chinese skink (East Asia: China, Korea, Japan)
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Plestiodon colimensis (Mexico)
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Plestiodon copei (Mexico)
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Plestiodon coreensis, Korean big skink (Korea)
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Plestiodon dugesii (Mexico) - rare
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Plestiodon egregius, mole skink
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Plestiodon elegans, elegant skink, five-striped blue-tailed skink (juvenile), or Shanghai skink (East Asia)
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Plestiodon fasciatus, common five-lined skink
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Plestiodon gilberti, Gilbert's skink (North America)
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Plestiodon inexpectatus, southeastern five-lined skink
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Plestiodon kishinouyei, Kishinoue's giant skink
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Plestiodon lagunensis, San Lucan skink
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Plestiodon laticeps, broad-headed skink
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Plestiodon latiscutatus, Okada's Five-lined Skink (Japan)
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Plestiodon liui (Asia)
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Plestiodon longirostris, Bermuda rock skink
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Plestiodon lynxe, oak forest skink (Mexico)
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Plestiodon marginatus, Ryūkyū five-lined skink (Okinawa and Amami Islands)
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Plestiodon multilineatus
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Plestiodon multivirgatus, many-lined skink
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Plestiodon (multivirgatus) gaigeae, variable skink (North America) - sometimes Eumeces (multivirgatus) epipleurotus
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Plestiodon obsoletus, Great Plains skink
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Plestiodon ochoterenae
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Plestiodon okadae, Okada's five-lined skink (Japan)
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Plestiodon parviauriculatus, northern pygmy skink (Mexico)
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Plestiodon parvulus, southern pygmy skink (Mexico)
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Plestiodon popei (Asia)
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Plestiodon quadrilineatus, four-lined Asian skink
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Plestiodon septentrionalis, prairie skink - includes Eumeces obtusirostris
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Plestiodon skiltonianus, western skink
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Plestiodon stimpsonii, Yaeyama seven-lined skink (Japan)
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Plestiodon sumichrasti (Mexico)
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Plestiodon tamdaoensis
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Plestiodon tetragrammus, four-lined skink
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Plestiodon tunganus
Now in Eurylepis:
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Eumeces indothalensis - now Eurylepis indothalensis
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Eumeces poonaensis - now Eurylepis poonaensis
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Eumeces taeniolatus - now Eurylepis taeniolata
Now in Mesoscincus:
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Eumeces altamirani - now Mesoscincus altamirani
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Eumeces managuae - now Mesoscincus managuae
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Eumeces schwartzei - now Mesoscincus schwartzei
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(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. (HTML abstract)
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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. (" Novoeumeces gen nov.", p. 11).
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Schmitz, Andreas; Patrick Mausfeld and Dirk Embert. 2004. Molecular studies on the genus Eumeces Wiegmann, 1834: phylogenetic relationships and taxonomic implications. Hamadryad 28 (1-2): 73–89.
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Smith, Hobart M. 2005. Plestiodon: a Replacement Name for Most Members of the Genus Eumeces in North America. Journal of Kansas Herpetology (14): 15–16.
External links
