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Lerista lineata BELL, 1833

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Perth Slider 
SynonymLerista lineata BELL 1833: 99
Lerista lineata — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 824
Ablepharus lineatus — GLAUERT 1960: 122
Lerista lineata — GREER 1967
Lerista lineata — COGGER 1983: 174
Lerista lineata — BRYGOO 1985: 58
Lerista lineata — COGGER 2000: 524
Lerista lineata — WELLS 2012: 20
Lerista lineata — WILSON & SWAN 2010 
DistributionAustralia (Western Australia: Perth, Rottnest, Garden Island)

Type locality: Australia  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: MNHN-RA 3095 (3107), Australia, presented T. Bell, fide Brygoo, 1985. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): Recent morphological surveys of the species of Lerista using x-rays and cleared and double-stained specimens, plus a better understanding of character state polarities in skinks in general, permits a more comprehensive diagnosis of Lerz'sta than available previously (Greer 1967, Storr 1972 and 1976).
The genus Lerz'sta is a member of the Sphenomorphus group (sensu Greer 1979) of lygosomine skinks (sensu Greer 1986) but differs from all other members of that group in the following combination of derived character states: prefrontals separated; lower eyelid with clear window; lower secondary temporal overlaps upper; external ear opening small, without projections. Premaxillary teeth <= 7; postorbital absent; vomers fused; pterygoid teeth absent; palatal rami of pterygoids squared off, in medial contact; process from ectopterygoids excluding palatal rami of pterygoid from infraorbital vacuity. Presacral vertebrae >= 31.
Visceral fat bodies absent; parietal peritoneum lacking pigment. For a list of included species see Cogger et al. (1983) and Storr (1984, 1985). [from GREER 1986: 126] 
CommentType species: Lerista lineata BELL 1833 is the type species of the genus Lerista BELL 1833. WELLS 2012 restricted the genus Lerista to contain only Lerista lineata, assigning other species to different genera (see individual species for those assignments).

Synonymy: Kaiser et al. 2013 considered the generic names Alcisius Wells 2012, Aphroditia Wells 2012, Cybelia Wells 2012, Gaia Wells 2012, Goldneyia Wells 2012, Krishna Wells 2012, Lokisaurus Wells 2012, Marrunisauria Wells 2012, Spectrascincus Wells 2012, Tychismia Wells 2012, Wondjinia Wells 2012 invalid and rejected their use instead of Lerista.

Phylogenetics: for an analysis of limb and body shape evolution in Lerista see Skinner et al. 2009 and Morinaga & Bergmann 2017. See Singhal et al. 2017 and 2018 for a phylogeny of Australian sphenomorphine skinks.

Limb morphology: 2 digits, 3 toes

Morphology: Hutchinson et al. 2021 present a table of morphological character states across 20 Australian sphenomorphine skinks, including this genus. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin “linea”, meaning stripe or line. 
References
  • Bell, T. 1833. [Descriptions of] two reptiles [and] the types of two genera hitherto undescribed. Characters of two new genera of reptiles. Proc. zool. Soc. London 1833: 98-99 - get paper here
  • Brygoo, E.R. 1985. Les types des scincidés (Reptiles, Sauriens) du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, catalogue critique. Bull. Mus. Natl. Hist. Nat. (4e sér.) 7 (sect. A 3), suppl.: 1-126
  • 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
  • Duméril, A. M. C. and G. Bibron. 1839. Erpétologie Générale on Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles. Vol. 5. Roret/Fain et Thunot, Paris, 871 pp. - 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, Allen E. 1967. A new generic arrangement for some Australian scincid lizards. Breviora (267): 1-19 - 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
  • 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
  • Maryan, B., Gaikhorst, G., O’Connell, M and Callan, S. 2015. Notes on the Distribution and Conservation status of the Perth Lined Skink, Lerista lineata: A small lizard in a big city. Western Australian Naturalist 30 (1): 12-29 - get paper here
  • Maryan, Brad & Glen Shannon Gaikhorst 2017. NOTES ON THE RELATIVE ABUNDANCE OF THE PERTH LINED SKINK, LERISTA LINEATA ON GARDEN AND ROTTNEST ISLANDS: A HAND-SEARCHING EXAMPLE. Western Australian Naturalist - get paper here
  • Morinaga, Gen; Philip J. Bergmann 2017. Convergent body shapes have evolved via deterministic and historically contingent pathways in Lerista lizards. Biol J Linn Soc 121 (4): 858-875, doi: 10.1093/biolinnean/blx040 - 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; Michael S Y Lee and Mark N Hutchinson 2008. Rapid and repeated limb loss in a clade of scincid lizards. [Lerista]. BMC Evolutionary Biology 8:310 - get paper here
  • Storr, G. M. 1971. The genus Lerista (Lacertilia: Scincidae) in Western Australia. J R. Soc. West. Aust. 54: 59-75
  • 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
  • Wells, R. 2012. Some Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Considerations on the Class Reptilia in Australia. A Reclassification of the Genus Lerista (Scincidae), including the Descriptions of New Genera. Australian Biodiversity Record (1): 1-361
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
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