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Marmorosphax tricolor (BAVAY, 1869)

IUCN Red List - Marmorosphax tricolor - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaScincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymLygosoma tricolor BAVAY 1869: 17
Leiolopisma tricolor — GREER 1974
Leiolopisma tricolor — ZUG 1985
Marmorosphax tricolor — SADLIER 1987: 32
Marmorosphax tricolor — ADLER, AUSTIN & DUDLEY 1995
Marmorosphax tricolor — SADLIER et al. 2006 
DistributionNew Caledonia

Type locality: “Nouvelle-Calédonie” (by implication). Neotype locality: summit of Mt Aoupinie, New Caledonia.  
Reproductionovoviviparous 
TypesNeotype: AMS R77750, designated by SADLIER 1987. Original Holotype, MNHN 5397, New Caledonia, presented M. Bavay, 30.x.1879; lost fide Brygoo (1985). 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus Marmorosphax): The following combination of characters will distinguish Marmorosphax from all other genera in the Eugongylus group of skinks as defined by Greer (1979): frontoparietals fused; supranasal scale or postnasal suture absent; anterior loreal present as a semilunar scale failing to contact upper labials; subocular scale row complete; lower eyelid with an obvious, centrally located semi-transparent disc; ear lobules barely distinguishable from blunt conical scales around upper, lower, and posterior edges of ear opening; enlarged pairs of chinshields two, third pair of chinshields divided obliquely such that they are separated by five scales; premaxillary teeth 13; live-bearing mode of reproduction confirmed in M. tricolor and M. montana.


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CommentCommon and fairly widespread.

Type Species: Lygosoma tricolor BAVAY 1869 is the type species of the genus Marmorosphax SADLIER 1986.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyNamed after Latin tri, three + Latin color, color; pigment; shade, tinge, although it’s not exactly brightly colored.

The genus Marmorosphax combines the Greek for marbled (marmoros) and throat (sphax) to describe the distinctive dark and light pattern present on the throat of both species in the genus. 
References
  • Adler,G.H.; Austin,C.C. & Dudley,R. 1995. Dispersal and speciation of skinks among archipelagos in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Evolutionary Ecology 9: 529-541 - get paper here
  • Bauer, A. M. & SADLIER, R. A. 2000. The herpetofauna of New Caledonia. Contributions to Herpetology, 17; Society for Study Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca, New York.
  • Bauer, A.M. & Sadlier,R.A. 1993. Systematics, biogeography and conservation of the lizards of New Caledonia. Biodiv. Lett. 1: 107-122 - get paper here
  • Bauer, Aaron M.;Vindum, Jens V. 1990. A checklist and key to the herpetofauna of New Caledonia, with remarks on biogeography. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 47 (2): 17-45 - get paper here
  • Bavay, A. 1869. Catalogue des Reptiles de las Nouvelle - Caledonie et description d'especes nouvelles. Memoires Societe Linniene de Normandie 15: 1-37
  • DUVAL, Thomas; Stéphane ASTRONGATT & Mickaël SANCHEZ 2019. Inventaire herpétologique de la forêt de Povila (province Nord, Nouvelle-Calédonie), avec une comparaison des protocoles de détection. Bull. Soc. Herp. Fr. 171: 13-36
  • Greer, A. E. 1979. A phylogenetic subdivision of Australian skinks. Rec. Austral. Mus. 32: 339-371 - get paper here
  • Greer, A.E. 1974. The generic relationships of the scincid lizard genus Leiolopisma and its relatives. Australian Journal of Zoology 31: 1-67. - get paper here
  • Sadlier R A 1987. A review of the scincid lizards of New Caledonia. Rec. Austral. Mus. 39(1) 1987: 1-66 [1986] - get paper here
  • Sadlier R. A., Smith, S.A.; Bauer A. M. & Whitaker A. H. 2009. Three new species of skink in the genus Marmorosphax Sadlier (Squamata: Scincidae) from New Caledonia. in Grandcolas, P. (ed.), Zoologia Neocaledonica 7. Biodiversity studies in New Caledonia. Mémoires du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle 198: 373-390
  • Sadlier, R. A. & A. M. BAUER 2000. The scincid genus Marmorosphax (Reptilia: Scincidae) from New Caledonia in the Southwest Pacific: description of a new species restricted to high-altitude forest in Province Sud. Pacific Science 54: 56-62
  • Sadlier, R.A.; Smith, S.A.; Bauer, A.M. 2006. A new genus for the New Caledonian scincid lizard Lygosoma euryotis Werner, 1909, and the description of a new species. Rec. Austral. Mus. 58 (1):19-28. - get paper here
  • Uetz, P.H.; Patel, M.; Gbadamosi, Z.; Nguyen, A.; Shoope, S. 2024. A Reference Database of Reptile Images. Taxonomy 4: 723–732 - get paper here
  • Zug,G. R. 1985. A new skink (Reptilia: Sauria: Leiolopisma) from Fiji. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 98 (1): 221-231 - get paper here
 
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