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Notoscincus ornatus (BROOM, 1896)

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
SubspeciesNotoscincus ornatus ornatus (BROOM 1896)
Notoscincus ornatus wotjulum (GLAUERT 1959) 
Common NamesE: Ornate Soil-crevice Skink 
SynonymAblepharus ornatus BROOM 1896: 343
Ablepharus ornatus — COPLAND 1952: 125
Notoscincus ornatus — FUHN 1969
Notoscincus ornatus — COGGER 1983: 182
Notoscincus ornatus ornatus — STORR et al. 1999
Notoscincus ornatus — COGGER 2000: 553
Notoscincus ornatus — WILSON & SWAN 2010

Notoscincus ornatus wotjulum (GLAUERT 1959)
Ablepharus wotjulum GLAUERT 1959: 192
Ablepharus wotjulum — GLAUERT 1960: 118
Notoscincus wotjulum — GREER 1974: 27
Notoscincus ornatus wotjulum — STORR et al. 1999
Notoscincus wotjulum — GREER 2005 (online)
Notoscincus wotjulum — SKINNER et al. 2013
Notoscincus ornatus wotjulum — COGGER 2014: 666 
DistributionAustralia (Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia)

ornatus: Far northern Queensland, Western Australia, and Northern Territory, to the coast and islands of the Gulf of Carpentaria and south to central Australia excluding north coast and hinterland.

wotjulum: tropical north coast and hinterland. Type locality: Wotjulum Mission, opposite Yampi Sounds, West Kimberley.

Type locality: Muldiva, Qld  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: BMNH 1946.8.18.53.
Holotype: WAM R11799, from Wotjulum Mission, opposite Yampi Sound, West Kimberley, W. A. [wotjulum] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): A small (snout-vent length up to 32 mm), Australian skink with the palatal rami of the pterygoids posteriorly emarginated, as in the beta palate, but with the palatal rami expanded and meeting medially unlike in any other beta skink (see Fuhn 1969, fig. 9); prefrontal scales, and a preablepharine eye. Frontoparietals fused; frontal in contact with only 1 supraocular (Greer 1974: 27). 
CommentSynonymy after COGGER 1983.

Type Species: Ablepharus wotjulum is the type species of the genus Notoscincus FUHN 1969 (fide GREER 1974).

Phylogenetics: see Singhal et al. 2017 and 2018 for a phylogeny of Australian sphenomorphine skinks.

Limb morphology: 5 digits, 5 toes (Singhal et al. 2018, Brandley et al 2008)

Morphology: Hutchinson et al. 2021 present a table of morphological character states across 20 Australian sphenomorphine skinks, including this genus. 
EtymologyThe Latin ornata, -us, = decorated" or "ornamented," refers to the ornate coloration. 
References
  • Broom, R. 1896. On two new species of Ablepharus from north Queensland. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (6) 18: 342-343 - get paper here
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • Copland, Stephen J. 1952. "Taxonomic notes on the genus Ablepharus (Sauria: Scincidae). III. A new species from North-west Australia" and "A mainland race of the scincid lizard Lygosoma trunkcatum (Peters)". Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales 77 (3/4): 121-131, 2 plates - get paper here
  • Couper, P., Covacevich, J., Amey, A. & Baker, A. 2006. The genera of skinks (Family Scincidae) of Australia and its island territories: diversity, distribution and identification. in: Merrick, J.R., Archer, M., Hickey, G.M. & Lee, M.S.Y. (eds.). Evolution and Zoogeography of Australasian Vertebrates. Australian Scientific Publishing, Sydney, pp. 367-384
  • Dijkman, Dr. Marieke & drs. Irma de Vries 2017. Apply a pressure-immobilization bandage, yes or no? In the Dutch situation not necessary. Litteratura Serpentium 37 (3): 114-120 - get paper here
  • Fuhn, I. E. 1969. Revision and redefinition of the genus Ablepharus Lichtenstein 1823 (Reptilia, Scincidae). Revue Roum. Biol. -Zool. 14: 23-41.
  • Glauert, L. 1959. Herpetological miscellanea. IX. Ablepharus wotjulum, a new skink from West Kimberley. Western Australian Naturalist 6: 192-193 - get paper here
  • Glauert, L. 1960. Herpetological miscellanea. XII. The family Scincidae in Western Australia. Pt. 3. The genus Ablepharus. Western Australian Naturalist 7: 115-122 - get paper here
  • Greer, A.E. 1974. The generic relationships of the scincid lizard genus Leiolopisma and its relatives. Australian Journal of Zoology 31: 1-67. - get paper here
  • Hutchinson, M. N., Couper, P., Amey, A., & Wilmer, J. W. 2021. Diversity and Systematics of Limbless Skinks (Anomalopus) from Eastern Australia and the Skeletal Changes that Accompany the Substrate Swimming Body Form. Journal of Herpetology 55 (4): 361-384 - get paper here
  • Reeder, T.W. 2003. A phylogeny of the Australian Sphenomorphus group (Scincidae: Squamata) and the phylogenetic placement of the crocodile skinks (Tribolonotus): Bayesian approaches to assessing congruence and obtaining confidence in maximum likelihood inferred relatio Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 27: 384–397 - get paper here
  • Singhal, Sonal; Huateng Huang, Maggie R. Grundler, María R. Marchán-Rivadeneira, Iris Holmes, Pascal O. Title, Stephen C. Donnellan, and Daniel L. Rabosky 2018. Does Population Structure Predict the Rate of Speciation? A Comparative Test across Australia’s Most Diverse Vertebrate Radiation. The American Naturalist - get paper here
  • Skinner, Adam; Mark N. Hutchinson, Michael S.Y. Lee 2013. Phylogeny and Divergence Times of Australian Sphenomorphus Group Skinks (Scincidae, Squamata). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 69 (3): 906–918 - get paper here
  • Sleijpen, F. 1984. Venomous or not? Litteratura Serpentium 4 (2): 42-56 - get paper here
  • Smetsers, P. 1990. Sensitive to stress or not, that is the question. Litteratura Serpentium 10 (4): 158-160 - get paper here
  • Steehouder, A.M. 1990. Venomous or not: some further data. Litteratura Serpentium 10 (2): 71-81 - get paper here
  • Storr, G. M. 1974. The genus Notoscincus (Lacertilia: Scincidae) in Western Australia and Northern Territory. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. 3: 111-114 - get paper here
  • Storr, G. M., Smith, L. A. & Johnstone, R. E. 1981. Lizards of Western Australia. I. Skinks. Perth: University of Western Australia Press and Western Australian Museum, 200 pp.
  • Storr, G. M.; L. A. Smith, and R. E. Johnstone 1999. Lizards of Western Australia. I. Skinks. Revised Edition. Western Australian Museum
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
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