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Eugongylus rufescens (SHAW, 1802)

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Bar-lipped Sheen-skink 
SynonymLacerta rufescens SHAW 1802: 285 (part.)
Scincus aurata SCHNEIDER 1801: 176 (part.)
Eumeces Oppelii DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 656
Mabouia macrura GÜNTHER 1867: 48
Eumeces uniformis MEYER 1874: 133
Eumeces brunneus MACLEAY 1877: 65
Mabuia uniformis — MACLEAY 1877: 65
Euprepes (Tiliqua) cingulatus PETERS & DORIA 1878: 352
Eumeces Oppellii — MÜLLER 1880: 125
Lygosoma (Riopa) rufescens — STERNFELD 1918: 419
Riopa rufescens — BURT & BURT 1932
Riopa rufescens — HEDIGER 1934
Riopa (Eugongylus) rufescens — SMITH 1937: 229
Eugongylus rufescens — GREER 1974: 14
Eugongylus rufescens — BÖHME 1976
Eugongylus rufescens — COGGER 1983: 164
Eugongylus rufescens — MYS 1988: 138
Eugongylus rufescens — COGGER 2000: 480
Lygosoma rufescens
Eugongylus rufescens — WHITING et al. 2003
Eugongylus rufescens — COUPER et al. 2006: 380
Eugongylus rufescens — KOCH 2012: 208
Eugongylus rufescens — JACOBS & SHEA 2022 
DistributionAustralia (Queensland), Admirality Islands, Indonesia (Irian Jaya, Seram, Ambon), Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands [McCoy 2000]

Type locality: see note below.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesTypes: unknown, composite and based, at least in part, on literature records (Aldrovandi, 1637; Seba, 1735); see also Boulenger (1887). Type data: unknown, from "Arabia, Egypt [Seba], and some European islands including Cyprus [Aldrovandi]" (Lacerta rufescens)
Holotype: unknown, from “Surinam” [Scincus aurata]
Syntypes: MNHP 1243, MNHP 2918, from New Guinea [Eumeces oppelii].
Holotype: BMNH 1946.8.13.73, from Cape York, Qld. [Mabouia macrura]
Syntypes: MTD (= MTKD) 242-243, from Mafoor, New Guinea, destroyed fide Obst (1977) [Eumeces uniformis].
Syntypes: AM R31864-6, from Darnley Is., Torres Strait, Qld. [Eumeces brunneus]
Holotype: AM R31867, from Coconut Is., Torres Strait, Qld. [Mabuia uniformis].
Holotype: MSNG 27904, from Mansinam, Irian Jaya, Indonesia [cingulatus]. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Large (snout-vent length up to 288 mm), terrestrial skinks with supranasals, scaly lower eyelids, the frontoparietals and interparietal distinct, and peg-like teeth; clutch size variable, up to 4 (Greer 1974: 14).


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CommentSynonymy and type information mainly after COGGER 1983: Name should be Eugongylus rufescens (SHAW 1802).

Type Species: Eumeces Oppelii = Lacerta rufescens is the type species of the genus Eugongylus FITZINGER 1843 (fide GREER 194: 13). Eugongylus is alos the type genus of the family Eugongylidae Hedges & Conn 2012: 28 and of the tribus Eugongylini Welch 1982 (fide Shea 2021).

Original description of Scincus aurata is based in part on specimens from Indo-Australian region; New World syntypes have been referred to Mabuya aurata (Schneider, 1801) and Mabuya sloanii (Daudin, 1802); we are not aware of any lectotype or neotype designation.

Habitat: in forested or partly open areas, in or under moist, decaying stumps and logs.

Distribution: not on Sulawesi fide Shea et al 2021.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyPresumably named after the Latin rufus (red) plus the suffix -escens (becoming), i.e., reddish. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024)

The genus Eugongylus was presumably named after the Greek prefix eu- (well, in the sense of very) plus gongylos (round), likely referring to the cross-sectional shape of body and tail. Gongylus was also used as a generic name for certain skinks, including by Fitzinger (1843). Derivation not stated by Fitzinger (1843). 
References
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  • Boulenger, G. A. 1887. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) III. Lacertidae, Gerrhosauridae, Scincidae, Anelytropsidae, Dibamidae, Chamaeleontidae. London: 575 pp. - get paper here
  • Burt, Charles E.; Burt, May Danheim 1932. Herpetological results of the Whitney South Sea Expedition. VI. Pacific island amphibians and reptiles in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 63 (5): 461-597 - get paper here
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