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Cyclodomorphus melanops (STIRLING & ZIETZ, 1893)

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Egerniinae (Tiliquini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
SubspeciesCyclodomorphus melanops melanops (STIRLING & ZIETZ 1893)
Cyclodomorphus melanops elongatus (WERNER 1910)
Cyclodomorphus melanops siticulosus SHEA & MILLER 1995 
Common NamesE: Samphire Slender Bluetongue 
SynonymLygosoma melanops STIRLING & ZIETZ 1893: 173
Tiliqua melanops — GLAUERT 1960: 71
Omolepida melanops — PIANKA 1969
Tiliqua branchialis — COGGER 1983: 189
Cyclodomorphus melanops melanops — SHEA & MILLER 1995
Cyclodomorphus melanops — COGGER 2000: 754
Cyclodomorphus melanops — PIANKA & VITT 2003: 112
Zeusius melanops gillami WELLS 2007
Cyclodomorphus melanops — WILSON & SWAN 2010

Cyclodomorphus melanops elongatus (WERNER 1910)
Lygosoma (Lygosoma) mülleri PETERS 1878: 191 [non Scincus mulleri SCHLEGEL 1837]
Lygosoma (Homolepida) branchiale elongatum WERNER 1910: 479
Lygosoma (Homolepida) petersi STERNFELD 1919: 81 (nom. subst.)
Tiliqua melanops — GLAUERT 1960
Tiliqua melanops — WARBURG 1965
Cyclodomorphus melanops elongatus — SHEA & MILLER 1995
Zeusius melanops swani WELLS 2007
Cyclodomorphus melanops elongatus — WILSON & SWAN 2013: 252

Cyclodomorphus melanops siticulosus SHEA & MILLER 1995: 308 
DistributionAustralia (arid interior of all mainland states: Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, Northern Terrotory)

melanops: arid NW-Australia (Kimberleys and Pilbara, Western Australia and C Australia.

elongatus: arid S/E-Australia; southern Western Australia through South Australia, S Northern Territory, W New South Wales to W Queensland. Type locality: Boorabbin, "Südwest- Australien" [south W.A.].

siticulosus: southern fringe of the Nullarbor Plain.

Type locality: between the Everard and Barrow Ranges, central Australia  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesLectotype: SAMA R8139 (Lygosoma melanops)
Holotype: ZMH R03961 (formerly no. 3500), from Boorabbin, W. A. [elongatus]
Syntypes: two specimens, ZMB 9373, from "Süd-Australien" [Lygosoma (Lygosoma) mülleri]
Holotype: SAMA R26399, collected by K. Casperson in 1984; paratypes: AM, SAM, WAM [siticulosus] 
Diagnosis 
CommentSynonymy: Lygosoma Mülleri PETERS 1878 is a homonym of Scincus muelleri SCHLEGEL 1837: 13, at least when both were placed in Lygosoma, hence Sternfeld 1919 suggested a replacement name, Lygosoma (Homolepida) petersi.

KAISER et al. 2013 rejected all names coined by HOSER in or after 2000. Lygosoma melanops STIRLING & ZIETZ 1893 has been synonymized with Cyclodomorphus branchialis by COGGER 1983 (the latter as Tiliqua branchialis). 
EtymologyPresumably named after the Greek melanos (black) plus opos (face), referring to the dark head, particularly prominent in juveniles. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) 
References
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1898. Third report on additions to the lizard collection in the Natural History Museum. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1898: 912-923. - 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
  • Glauert, L. 1960. Herpetological miscellanea. XII. The family Scincidae in Western Australia. Pt. 1. The genera Tiliqua, Trachysaurus and Egernia. Western Australian Naturalist 7 (3): 67-77 - get paper here
  • Hallermann, J. 2020. An annotated list of reptiles and amphibians from the 1905 Hamburg expedition to southwest Australia deposited in the Zoological Museum Hamburg. Evolutionary Systematics 4: 61 - get paper here
  • Kaiser, H.; Crother, B.I.; Kelly, C.M.R.; Luiselli, L.; O’Shea, M.; Ota, H.; Passos, P.; Schleip, W.D. & Wüster, W. 2013. Best Practices: In the 21st Century, Taxonomic Decisions in Herpetology are Acceptable Only When Supported by a Body of Evidence and Published via Peer-Review. Herpetological Review 44 (1): 8-23
  • Kearney, S.G.; P.L. Kern, and A.S. Kutt 2020. A baseline terrestrial vertebrate fauna survey of Pullen Pullen; a significant conservation reserve in south-west Queensland. Australian Zoologist - get paper here
  • Pianka, E. R. 1969. Habitat specificity, speciation, and species density in Australian desert lizards. Ecology 50 (3): 498-502 - get paper here
  • Pianka, E. R. 2011. Notes on the ecology of some uncommon skinks in the Great Victoria Desert. Western Australian Naturalist 28: 50-60 - get paper here
  • Pianka, E.R. & Vitt, L.J. 2003. Lizards - Windows to the Evolution of Diversity. University of California Press, Berkeley, 347 pp. [review in Copeia 2004: 955] - get paper here
  • Shea G M. & Miller B. 1995. A taxonomic revision of the Cyclodomorphus branchialis species group (Squamata: Scincidae). Rec. Austral. Mus. 47 (3): 265-325. - get paper here
  • Sternfeld, R. 1919. Neue Schlangen und Echsen aus Zentralaustralien. Senckenbergiana 1: 76-83 - get paper here
  • Stirling, E. C., and A. Zietz. 1893. Scientific results of the Elder Exploring Expedition. Vertebrata. Mammalia, Reptilia. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 16:154-176. - 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
  • Swan, G.; Sadlier, R.; Shea, G. 2017. A field guide to reptiles of New South Wales. Reed New Holland, 328 pp.
  • Wells, R. W. 2007. Some taxonomic and nomenclatural considerations on the class Reptilia in Australia. The genus Cyclodomorphus Fitzinger, 1843 with a new interpretation of the Cyclodomorphus branchialis species-group. Australian Biodiversity Record (4):1–23. - get paper here
  • Werner, F. 1910. Reptilia (Geckonidae und Scincidae). In: Michaelsen, W., and R. Hartmeyer: Die Fauna Südwest-Australiens. Vol. 2. G. Fischer, Jena, pp. 451-493. - 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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