Oligosoma aeneum (GIRARD, 1858)
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Oligosoma aeneum
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Copper Skink |
| Synonym | Cyclodina aenea GIRARD 1858: 196 Tiliqua ornata — GRAY 1843: 202 Hinulia ornata — GRAY 1845: 77 Hinulia ornate — GRAY 1845: 7 Mocoa smithi — GRAY 1845: 82 (in part) Hombronia undosa GIRARD 1857: 196 Eulamprus ornatus — FITZINGER 1861: 403 Lampropholis smithii — FITZINGER 1861:403 Lampropholis (Mocoa) smithi (Gray) —HOCHSTETTER 1863:429 (in part) Euprepes smithii — STEINDACHNER 1869:47 (in part) Mocoa zealandica — GÜNTHER 1875:13 (in part) Lygosoma smithii — BOULENGER 1887:274 (in part) Lygosoma aeneum — BOULENGER 1887: 275 Lygosoma micans WERNER 1895: 21 Liolepisma aeneum — LUCAS & FROST 1897: 265 Liolepisma smithii — LUCAS & FROST 1897: 265 (part.) Lygosoma (Leiolopisma) aeneum — SMITH 1937: 223 Lygosoma moco DUMÉRIL & BIBRON — HARD 1954: 145 Leiolopisma aeneum — MCCANN 1955 Sphenomorphus pseudornatus MCCANN 1955 (part) Leiolopisma aeneum — GREER 1974: 16 Cyclodina aenea — HARDY 1977 Leiolopisma aeneum — HENLE 1981 Cyclodina aenea — HICKSON et al. 2000 Oligosoma aenea — CHAPPLE et al. 2009 Oligosoma aeneum — PATTERSON et al. 2013 Oligosoma aeneum — GOLLIN et al. 2020 |
| Distribution | New Zealand (North Island) Type locality: Te Papa, Blue Mountains, Hutt Valley, Wellington [neotype]. |
| Reproduction | ovovivparous. Litter size ranges between one and four. |
| Types | Neotype: NMNZ RE1816 (National Museum of New Zealand), S193, designated by Hardy (1977). Holotype originally in USNM (lost) - see Zug (1985). Holotype: USNM 5627 [Hombronia undosa] Holotype: NMW 16651 [micans] |
| Diagnosis | |
| Comment | Synonymy: see PATTERSON et al. 2013 for a more detailed synonymy. This species has been confused with O. aeneum and therefore the name ornatum (and variations have been used for aeneum as well. This species has also been confused with Oligosoma smithi (GRAY 1845). In fact, Hardy (1977) recognized that one of the syntypes of Mocoa smithii Gray 1845 was in fact typical of C. aenea (Chapple et al. 2008). Type Species: Cyclodina aenea GIRARD 1857 is the type species of the genus Cyclodina GIRARD 1857. Note that four names (Cyclodina, Oligosoma, Lygosomella, and Hombronia), all contained in the same publication (Girard, 1857), are simultaneously the oldest available for this single genus, although only Cyclodina and Oligosoma have been subsequently used for part of it. McCann (1955) restricted the name C. aenea to populations south of the 38° latitude, which lies approximately 300 km south of the Bay of Islands, and placing populations north of the 38° latitude in the new species Sphenomorphus pseudornatus. Hardy (1977) subsequently synonymized S. pseudornatus under C. aenea and resurrected Cyclodina ornata from synonymy. Lygosomella and Hombronia have been previously treated as junior synonyms of Oligosoma (by Patterson and Daugherty, 1995). |
| Etymology | Named after its color: Latin “aenea/-us” = bronze, copper, or ore. |
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