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Menetia greyii GRAY, 1845

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Common Dwarf Skink 
SynonymMenetia greyii GRAY 1845: 66
Menetia reidi (MCCOOEY 1895)
Ablepharus greyii — GLAUERT 1960: 118
Ablepharus greyi — PIANKA 1969
Menetia greyii — GREER 1974: 29
Menetia amaura STORR 1978
Menetia greyii — COGGER 1983: 178
Menetia microscincus WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985: 33
Menetia greyii — COGGER 2000: 543
Menetia amaura — COGGER 2000: 542
Menetia greyii — WILSON & SWAN 2010: 316
Menetia greyii — WILSON & SWAN 2013
Menetia amaura — COGGER 2014: 654
Menetia greyii — COGGER 2014: 655 
DistributionAustralia (New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland,South Australia,Victoria, Western Australia)

Type locality: W. A.  
Reproductionparthenogenetic, 1-3 eggs per clutch. 
TypesLectotype: BMNH 1946.8.16.9, designated by Storr, G. M. (1976). 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus Menetia): The species of Menetia (as opposed to Pygmaeascincus and Lygisaurus) share a reduced number of supraciliaries (3-4 instead of 5 or more) of which the first and second, but especially the latter, are greatly enlarged; two supraoculars; eyelid completely ablepharine; splenial not distinct; premaxillae fused; maxillary teeth ≤ 12 (modified after Greer 1991 and P. Couper, pers. comm., 18 Nov 2014).


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CommentDiet: primarily thysanura (silverfish), small spiders, and true bugs.

Type Species: Menetia greyii is the type species of the genus Menetia GRAY 1845 (fide GREER 1974).

Limb morphology: 4 fingers, 5 toes

Synonymy: M. amaura has been considered a synonym of M. greyii by Aplin & Smith (1991) and its status seems to remain somewhat unclear, although it is recognized as valid by Chapple et al. 2021. See M. amaura.

Abundance: common, with more than 500 specimens collected (Pianka 2011) 
EtymologyNamed after Sir George Grey (1812-1898), a soldier, explorer, colonial governor (of New Zealand and Cape Colony), premier, High Commissioner (South Africa, 1853)and scholar. He explored Western Australia (1837-1839). He tried to convert frontier tribes to Christianity to "civilize" them, supported mission schools, and built a hospital for African patients. 
References
  • Adams, M.; Foster, R.; Hutchinson, M.N.; Hutchinson, R.G.; Donnellan, S.C. 2003. The Australian scincid lizard Menetia greyii: an new instance of widespread vertebrate parthenogenesis. Evolution Int J Org Evolution 57 (11): 2619-2627 - get paper here
  • Aplin, K.P. and L.A. Smith 2001. Checklist of the frogs and reptiles of Western Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement No. 63: 51–74 - get paper here
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Bush, B. 1981. Reptiles of the Kalgoorlie-Esperance Region. B. Bush, Perth, 46 pp - get paper here
  • CHIACCHIO, MICHELE; ANNEGRET GRIMM-SEYFARTH<br>KLAUS HENLE<br> AND JEAN-BAPTISTE MIHOUB 2020. Water availability as a major climatic driver of taxonomic and functional diversity in a desert reptile community. Ecosphere 11(7):e03190. 10.1002/ecs2.3190 - 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
  • COUPER, PATRICK J.; CONRAD J. HOSKIN 2014. A new genus to accommodate three skinks currently assigned to Menetia (Lacertilia: Scincidae). Zootaxa 3884 (6): 597–599 - get paper here
  • Dittmer, D. E., Chapman, T. L. & Bidwell, J. R. 2020. In the shadow of an iconic inselberg: Uluru’s shadow influences climates and reptile assemblage structure at its base. J. Arid Environ. 181, 104179 (2020) - 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
  • Gray, J. E. 1845. Catalogue of the specimens of lizards in the collection of the British Museum. Trustees of die British Museum/Edward Newman, London: xxvii + 289 pp. - 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
  • Greer, Allen E. 2001. Distribution of maximum snout-vent length among species of Scincid lizards. Journal of Herpetology 35 (3): 383-395 - 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
  • How, RA, Cowan, MA, Teale, RJ, Schmitt, LH. 2020. Environmental correlates of reptile variation on the Houtman Abrolhos archipelago, eastern Indian Ocean. J Biogeogr. 47: 2017– 2028 - get paper here
  • Ingram G J 1977. Three species of small lizards - two of them new. Genus Menetia (Lacertilia, Scincidae) in Queensland. Victorian Naturalist 94: 184-187 - get paper here
  • Kay, G.M.; D. Michael; M. Crane; S. Okada; C. MacGregor; D. Florance; D. Trengove; L. McBurney; D. Blair; D.B. Lindenmayer. 2013. A list of reptiles and amphibians from Box Gum Grassy Woodlands in south-eastern Australia. Check List 9 (3):476-481 - get paper here
  • Maryan, B., Browne-Cooper, R. and Bush, B. 2002. Herpetofauna Survey of the Maralla Road Bushland. Western Australian Naturalist 23: 197-205 - get paper here
  • Maryan, B., Gaikhorst, G., & Parkhurst, B. 2024. The terrestrial herpetofauna of the Zuytdorp coast and hinterland of Western Australia: Exceptional richness in a global biodiversity hotspot. Western Australian Naturalist, 33, 3
  • McCooey 1985. Dubbo Dispatch and Wellington Independent 30 (84): 4
  • Michael, D.R.; D.B. Lindenmayer; M. Crane; C. MacGregor; R. Montague-Drake; L. McBurney. 2011. Reptilia, Murray catchment, New South Wales, southeastern Australia. Check List 7 (1):25-29 - get paper here
  • Peterson, Magnus and Dean C. Metcalfe. 2015. Menetia greyii (Grey's skink) diet. Herpetological Review 46 (4): 631-632 - 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 natural history of the tiny skink Menetia greyi. Western Australian Naturalist 28: 12-17 - get paper here
  • Rankin P R 1979. A taxonomic revision of the genus Menetia (Lacertilia, Scincidae) in the Northern Territory. Rec. Austral. Mus. 32 (14): 491-499 - get paper here
  • Smyth, M. & Smith, M. J. 1974. Aspects of the natural history of three Australian skinks, Morethia boulengeri, Menetia greyii and Lerista bougainvillii. Journal of Herpetology 8 (3): 329-336 - get paper here
  • Storr G M 1978. Taxonomic notes on the reptiles of the Shark Bay region, Western Australia. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. 6 (3): 303-318 - get paper here
  • Storr, G. M. 1976. The genus Menetia (Lacertilia: Scincidae) in Western Australia. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. 4: 189-200. - get paper here
  • 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
  • Swan, G.; Sadlier, R.; Shea, G. 2017. A field guide to reptiles of New South Wales. Reed New Holland, 328 pp.
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
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