Egernia saxatilis COGGER, 1960

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Higher Taxa	Scincidae, Egerniinae (Tiliquini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies	Egernia saxatilis saxatilis COGGER 1960 Egernia saxatilis intermedia COGGER 1960
Common Names	E: Black Crevice-skink, Black Rock Skink
Synonym	Egernia saxatilis COGGER 1960 Egernia saxatilis — COGGER 1983: 160 Egernia saxatilis — COGGER 2000: 471 Egernia saxatilis — DOUGHTY et al. 2011 Egernia saxatilis intermedia COGGER 1960 Egernia saxatilis intermedia COGGER 1960: 96 Egernia saxatilis intermedia — SHEA 1999: 32 Egernia saxatilis intermedia —WILSON & SWAN 2013: 262
Distribution	Australia (Highlands and outlying hills and ranges of SE Australia, from W Victoria to N New South Wales) saxatilis: Warrumbungle Mountains intermedia: remainder of range. Type locality: Warrumbungle Mts., N. S. W.
Reproduction	ovovivparous. Egernia saxatilis forms long-term pairs to raise its offspring (“monogamy”). E. saxatilis ist the first reptile found to have a “nuclear family” strucuture of a pair and offspring living together for more than one year (O’Connor & Shine 2003).
Types	Holotype: AMS (AM) R15282 Holotype: AMS (AM) R15273, from Kanangra Walis (3, 400 ft), N. S. W. [intermedia]
Diagnosis
Comment
Etymology	From the Latin saxatilis (among rocks), relating to the habitat preference. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024)
References	Cogger, H. G. 1960. The ecology, morphology, distribution and speciation of a new species and subspecies of the genus Egernia (Lacertilia: Scincidae). Rec. Austral. Mus. 25: 95-105 - 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. 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 Doughty, Paul; Luke Kealley, and Stephen C. Donnellan 2011. Revision of the Pygmy Spiny-tailed Skinks (Egernia depressa species-group) from Western Australia, with descriptions of three new species. Rec. West. Austr. Mus. 26: 115–137 Horton, D. R. 1972. Lizard scales and adaptation. Systematic Zoology 21 (4): 441-443 - get paper here Hutchinson, M.N. 1979. The reptiles of Kinglake National Park. Victorian Naturalist 96: 124-134 - get paper here O’Connor, D. & Shine, R. 2003. Lizards in "nuclear families": a novel reptilian social system in Egernia saxatilis (Scincidae). Molecular Ecology 12: 743-752 - get paper here Swan, G.; Sadlier, R.; Shea, G. 2017. A field guide to reptiles of New South Wales. Reed New Holland, 328 pp. Wells, R. 1972. On the occurrence of the skink Egernia saxatilis intermedia Cogger in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, N. S. W. with additional notes on its behaviour in captivity. Herpetofauna (Sydney) 5: 2-4 While, Geoffrey M.;, David G. Chapple, Michael G. Gardner, Tobias Uller, and Martin J. Whiting 2015. Egernia lizards. Current Biology 25 (14): R593–R595, doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.02.070 - get paper here Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
External links	IUCN Red List National Center for Biotechnology Information http://www.amonline.net.au/herpetology/research/pdf/scincidae.pdf http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/bioinformatics/lizards/images/saxalive1.htm http://www.arod.com.au/arod/reptilia/Squamata/Scincidae/Egernia/saxatilis Google images

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