Cryptoblepharus buchananii (GRAY, 1839)
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Cryptoblepharus buchananii
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Buchanan's Snake-eyed Skink |
| Synonym | Tiliqua buchananii GRAY 1839: 291 Ablepharus peronii var. peronii — BOULENGER 1887: 347 Ablepharus boutoni punctatus STERNFELD 1918: 424 Ablepharus boutoni plagiocephalus – MERTENS 1931: 116 Ablepharus boutoni plagiocephalus – STORR 1961: 176 Ablepharus boutoni plagiocephalus – WORRELL 1963: 34 Ablepharus boutoni plagiocephalus – MERTENS 1964: 107 Ablepharus boutonii metallicus — LOVERIDGE 1934: 375 Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus – STORR 1976: 56 Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus – STORR & HANLON 1980: 431 Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus – STORR et al. 1999 Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus – WILSON & SWAN 2003 Cryptoblepharus buchananii — HORNER 2007: 60 |
| Distribution | Australia (C/S Western Australia, from the Pilbara region to much of southern Western Australia) Type locality: ““New Holland” [= W. Australia fide BOULENGER 1887] |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Syntypes: BMNH 1946.8.19.73-74, W. Australia; BMNH 1946.8.19.74 Lectotype: SMF 15685 [punctatus] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: A large (45–50 mm SVL), short-legged, shallow-headed, arboreal Cryptoblepharus, distinguished from Australian congeners by combination of usually having: six supraciliary scales; 24 mid-body scale rows; 52 paravertebral scales; 19 smooth subdigital lamellae under the fourth toe; hindlimb length 41.1% of SVL; head depth 42.3% of head length; tail length 136% of SVL; rounded, usually callused plantar scales; greyish, longitudinally aligned body pattern and being arboreal. |
| Comment | Similar species: C. plagiocephalus Gray diagnosed the taxon as, “Ears shallow, overlapped by 2 or 3 whitish superficial scales; scales smooth, olive, black lined; above black and olive varied; back with a broad black-edged silvery streak on each side; limbs, tail, and sides olive and black dotted, beneath silvery”. Sympatry. Cryptoblepharus buchananii occurs in sympatry with C. australis from lineage 1 and C. plagiocephalus and C. ustulatus sp. nov. from lineage 2. Sympatric with C. australis at Comet Vale; C. plagiocephalus at Greenough, and C. ustulatus sp. nov. at Dolphin Island and Weeli Wooli Spring. Habitat: Typically arboreal, museum records of the species note its occurrence in open woodland and urban environments. Etymology: no etymology was given by Gray 1839. |
| Etymology | Named after Walter Buchanan, the donor of the specimens (as part of a collection of Western Australian herps) to the British Museum. Buchanan appears to have been a London merchant with an interest in natural history, rather than the original collector (Glenn Shea, pers. comm., 2 Feb 2024) |
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