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Eremiascincus intermedius (STERNFELD, 1919)

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Northern Narrow–banded Skink
G: Nordaustralischer Streifenskink 
SynonymLygosma [sic] (Hinulia) fasciolatum intermedium STERNFELD 1919: 81
Sphenomorphus fasciolatus fasciolatus — STORR 1967: 15–16 (part.)
Sphenomorphus fasciolatus intermedius — MERTENS 1967: 74
Sphenomorphus fasciolatus — STORR 1974: 68–70 (part.)
Eremiascincus fasciolatus — GREER 1979: 323 (part.)
Eremiascincus fasciolatus — COGGER et al., 1983: 163 (part.)
Eremiascincus fasciolatus — COGGER 2000: 477
Eremiascincus intermedius — MECKE et al. 2013 
DistributionAustralia (Northern Territory, adjacent Western Australia)

Type locality: Hermannsburg Mission, upper Finke River, N. T.  
Reproductionoviparous (Mecke et al. 2016) 
TypesLectotype: SMF 14446 (= 6236a in Mertens, 1922); Paralectotypes: SMF 14447–50 (unsexed adults), and SMF 144451 (juvenile); MCZ 33530 is evidently from Sternfeld’s original symphoront series and marked as ‘cotype’ (equivalent of a ‘syntype’) in Loveridge (1934) and hence a paralectotype. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A medium-sized (snout-vent length up to 88.5 mm), slender, narrow-banded Eremiascincus usually having 7 undivided supralabial scales; a single infralabial in broad contact with the postmental scale (rarely 2); scales on top of the fourth toe in single rows with transverse sutures for at least distal third of digit; 20–29 subdigital lamellae under fourth toe, deeply grooved (usually for more than half of digit), basally divided, often bluntly keeled or callused, keels ending in a mucro; plantar scales 10–17, slightly raised; 30–36 scales ordered around midbody; head small and snout somewhat depressed; ear opening small and subcircular; dorsum with keels posteriorly and tail with ridged scales; coloration pattern comprises a banded dorsum (type b) with 6–16 narrow bands between neck and attachment of hind limbs and up to 42 perfectly transverse dark bands (type b) on the tail [MECKE et al. 2013] 
CommentSynonymy partly after COGGER 1983 and MECKE et al. 2013. MECKE et al. 2013 removed Eremiascincus intermedius from the synonymy of E. fasciolatus. Not listed by COGGER 2014.

Limb morphology: 5 digits, 5 toes (Singhal et al. 2018, Cogger 2014) 
EtymologyThe specific name ‘intermedius’ is Latin for ‘intermediate’. The name was proposed by Sternfeld in allusion to the intermediate morphological and geographical position of this species, supposedly linking ‘fasciolatus’ in the east with ‘monotropis’ (= E. richardsonii) in the west. 
References
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • 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
  • Greer, Allen E. 1979. Eremiascincus, A new generic name for some Australian sand swimming skinks (Lacertilia: Scincidae). Rec. Austral. Mus. 32 (7): 321-338 - get paper here
  • Günther, A. 1867. Additions to the knowledge of Australian reptiles and fishes. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (3) 20: 45-57 - get paper here
  • Günther, A. 1875. A list of the saurians of Australia and New Zealand. Pp. 9-19. In: Richardson, J., and J. E. Gray. The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Erebus and Terror, during the years 1839 to 1843. By authority of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Vol. 2. E. W. Janson, London - get paper here
  • Mecke, S., M. Kieckbusch, T. Graf, L. A. Beck, M. O’Shea & H. Kaiser 2016. First captive breeding of a night skink (Scincidae: Eremiascincus) from Timor-Leste, Lesser Sunda Islands, with remarks on the reproductive biology of the genus. Salamandra 52 (2): 178-188 - get paper here
  • Mecke, S; Dougherty, P. & Donnellan, S.C. 2009. A new species of Eremiascincus (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae) from the Great Sandy Desert and Pilbara Coast, Western Australia and reassignment of eight species from Glaphyromorphus to Eremiascincus. Zootaxa 2246: 1-20 - get paper here
  • MECKE, SVEN; PAUL DOUGHTY, STEPHEN C. DONNELLAN 2013. Redescription of Eremiascincus fasciolatus (Günther, 1867) (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae) with clarification of its synonyms and the description of a new species. Zootaxa 3701 (5): 473–517 - 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
  • Steindachner, F. 1867. In: Reise der Österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858,1859 unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von Wüllerstorf-Urbair (Zoologie), Vol. 1, part 3 (Reptilien p.1-98). K. Gerold's Sohn/Kaiserlich-Königl. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Wien [1869 on title page] - get paper here
  • Sternfeld, R. 1919. Neue Schlangen und Echsen aus Zentralaustralien. Senckenbergiana 1: 76-83 - get paper here
  • Storr, G. M. 1974. Revision of the Sphenomorphus richardsonii species-group (Lacertilia: Scincidae). Rec. West. Aust. Mus. 3: 66-70 - get paper here
  • Storr, G. M.; L. A. Smith, and R. E. Johnstone 1999. Lizards of Western Australia. I. Skinks. Revised Edition. Western Australian Museum
  • Werner, F. 1910. Neue oder seltenere Reptilien des Musée Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgique in Brüssel. [Mabuia dolloi, Mabuia polylepis]. Zool. Jb. Abt. Syst. Okol. Geogr. 28 [1909]: 263-288. - get paper here
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
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