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Ornithuroscincus noctua (LESSON, 1830)

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Moth Skink 
SynonymScincus noctua LESSON 1830: 48
Lygosoma vertebrale HALLOWELL 1861: 487
Euprepes novarae STEINDACHNER 1867
Lygosoma (Lipinia) aurea MEYER 1874
Lygosoma (Mocoa) noctua var. ternatensis PETERS & DORIA 1878: 347
Mocoa novarae — MÜLLER 1880
Lygosoma (Leiolopisma) subnitens BOETTGER 1896
Lygosoma miotis BOULENGER 1895: 29
Lygosoma noctua — BOULENGER 1897: 307
Leiolopisma noctua — STEJNEGER 1899
Lygosoma (Liolepisma) carolinarum WERNER 1909: 63 ?
Lygosoma (Liolepisma) noctua — STERNFELD 1918: 401
Leiolopisma noctua — BURT & BURT 1932
Leiolopisma miotis — PARKER 1936: 87
Lygosoma (Leiolopisma) noctua — SMITH 1937: 224
Lygosoma (Leiolopisma) miotis — SMITH 1937: 225
Lygosoma (Leiolopisma) noctua noctua — TANNER 1950
Lipinia noctua — GREER 1974: 11
Lipinia noctua — MYS 1988: 140
Lipinia noctua — CROTHER 2000
Lipinia noctua — DAS & AUSTIN 2007
Lipinia noctua — ZUG 2013
Lipinia noctua — KAISER et al. 2020
Ornithuroscincus noctua — SLAVENKO et al. 2021 
Distributioncosmopolitan Pacific species occurring from Sulawesi eastward across N Papua New Guinea through the Solomons and Vanuatu (Santo, Malo, Aore, Pentecost, Malakula, Ambrym, Epi, Efate, Tanna, and Anatom) to Tuamotu Archipelago and Marquesas Islnds and northward to Hawaii (USA);
Indonesia: Maluku and Papua Province
Fiji Islands (most islands), Tuamoto Atoll, Nukutipipi Atoll,
Western Samoa, Admirality Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Tonga, Toga, Linua, Tegua, Hiu Islands, Cook Islands (Roratonga), Micronesia (Lukunor Atoll)
Guam (G. Rodda, pers. comm., 13 March 2016)

Type locality: Kosrae, Caroline Islands.  
ReproductionSome diagnostic differences involve their mode of reproduction. L. rouxi is oviparous, whereas noctua is ovoviviparous. In addition, rouxi has lost the left oviduct and thus lays only one egg, while both oviducts are functioning in noctua (GREER & MYS 1987). 
TypesHolotype: lost (fide BRYGOO 1985) but validly represented by a published figure.
Syntypes: MSNG 27976 [ternatensis] 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (63 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentSynonymy: Lipinia rouxi has been previously synonymized with L. noctua by ZWEIFEL (1979). Lygosoma (Liolepisma) carolinarum WERNER 1909 is probably a synonym of L. noctua (fide G. Zug, pers. comm. 17 Nov 2014).

Habitat: arboreal, but not as a good climber as Lamprolepis smaragdina. 
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
  • Austin, C.C. 1999. Lizards took express train to Polynesia. Nature 397: 113-114 - get paper here
  • Austin, Christopher C. 1998. Phylogenetic relationships of Lipinia (Scincidae) from New Guinea based on DNA sequence variation from the mitochondrial 12S rRNA and Nuclear C-MOS genes. Hamadryad 23 (2): 93-102. - get paper here
  • Bauer, A.M.; Günther,R. & Klipfel,M. 1995. The herpetological contributions of Wilhelm C.H. Peters (1815-1883). SSAR Facsimile Reprints in Herpetology, 714 pp.
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  • Boulenger, G. A. 1895. On a collection of reptiles and batrachians from Ferguson Island, D'Entrecasteaux group British New Guinea. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (6) 16: 28-32 - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G. A. 1897. On the reptiles of Rotuma Island, Polynesia. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (6) 20: 306-307 - 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
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  • Burt, Charles E.; Burt, May Danheim 1932. Herpetological results of the Whitney South Sea Expedition. VI. Pacific island amphibians and reptiles in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 63 (5): 461-597 - get paper here
  • Crombie, R.I., & Steadman, D.W. 1987. The lizards of Rarotonga and Mangaia, Cook Island group, Oceania. Pacific Science 40 (1-4): 44-57.
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  • Garman, S. 1901. Some reptiles and batrachians from Australasia. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 39: 1-14 - get paper here
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  • Goldberg, Stephen R. and Kraus Fred 2012. Notes on Reproduction of the Moth Skink, Lipinia noctua (Squamata: Scincidae) from the Pacific Islands. Current Herpetology Jun 2012, Vol. 31, No. 1: 58-60. - get paper here
  • Hallowell, E. 1861. Report upon the Reptilia of the North Pacific Exploring Expedition, under command of Capt. John Rogers, U. S. N. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 12 [1860]: 480 - 510 - get paper here
  • Havery, Sarah; Steffen Oppel, Nik Cole, and Neil Duffield 2018. Density of Three Skink Species on a Sub-tropical Pacific Island Estimated with Hierarchical Distance Sampling. Herp. Cons. Biol. 13 (3): 507–516 - get paper here
  • Heatwole, H. 1975. Biogeography of reptiles on some of the islands and cays of Eastern Papua-New Guinea. Atoll Research Bulletin (180): 1-41 - get paper here
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  • Ineich I 1990. Lipinia noctua (moth skink). Herpetological Review 21 (2): 41 - get paper here
  • Ineich, I. 2009. The terrestrial herpetofauna of Torres and Banks Groups (northern Vanuatu), with report of a new species for Vanuatu. Zootaxa 2198: 1-15 - get paper here
  • Ineich, I. 2011. Amphibians and reptiles. In: Bouchet P., Le Guyader H. & PascaL O. (eds), The Natural History of Santo. pp. 187-236. MNhN, Paris; Ird, Marseille; PNI, Paris. 572 pp. (Patrimoines naturels; 70). - get paper here
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  • Koch, A. 2011. The Amphibians and Reptiles of Sulawesi: Underestimated Diversity in a Dynamic Environment. In: F.E. Zachos and J.C. Habel (eds.), Biodiversity Hotspots. Springer, Berlin, p. 383-404 - get paper here
  • Koch, A. 2012. Discovery, Diversity, and Distribution of the Amphibians and Reptiles of Sulawesi and its offshore islands. Edition Chimaira, 374 pp. [ISBN 978-3-89973-432-4] - get paper here
  • Koch, André; Arida, Evy; Riyanto, Awal & Böhme, Wolfgang 2009. Islands between the realms: A revised checklist of the herpetofauna of the Talaud archipelago, Indonesia, with a discussion about its biogeographic affinities. Bonner zoologische Beiträge 56 (1/2): 107-129 [2007] - get paper here
  • Lesson, R.P. 1826. Reptile plates 3 and 4. In: Atlas de Zoologie, Voyage autour de monde, exécuté (part.) ordre du Roi, sur la Corvette de sa Majesté, La Coquille, pendant les années 1822-1825. Arthus Bertrand, Paris. - get paper here
  • Lesson, R.P. 1830. Description de quelques reptiles nouveaux ou peu connus. In: M.L.I. Duperrey, Voyage Autour du Monde Execute par Ordre du Roi, sur la Corvette de La Majeste, La Coquille, Pendant les Annees 1822, 1823, 1824 et 1825. 2. Zoologie Tome 2, Partie 1. Arthur Bertrand, Paris: 1-65 [published 1829 fide Ivan Ineich] - get paper here
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  • Meyer, A.B. 1874. Eine Mittheilung von Hern. Dr. Adolf Berhard Meyer über die von ihm auf Neu-Guinea und den Inseln Jobi, Mysore und Mafoor im Jahre 1873 gesammelten Amphibien. Monatsber. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin 1874: 128-140 [also published as a separate print with pages 1-17 with a different title in which “Hern. Dr. Adolf Berhard Meyer über die von ihm” is replaced by “mir”] - get paper here
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  • Peters, Wilhem Carl Hartwig and G. Doria. 1878. Catalogo dei retilli e dei batraci raccolti da O. Beccari, L. M. D'Alberts e A. A. Bruijn. nella sotto-regione Austro-Malese. Annali del Museo Civico de Storia Naturale di Genova. ser. 1, 13: 323-450 - get paper here
  • Slavenko, Alex, Karin Tamar, Oliver J. S. Tallowin, Fred Kraus, Allen Allison, Salvador Carranza & Shai Meiri. 2021. Revision of the montane New Guinean skink genus Lobulia (Squamata: Scincidae), with the description of four new genera and nine new species. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 195 (1): 220–278 - get paper here
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  • Steindachner, F. 1867. In: Reise der Österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde in den Jahren 1857, 1858,1859 unter den Befehlen des Commodore B. von Wüllerstorf-Urbair (Zoologie), Vol. 1, part 3 (Reptilien p.1-98). K. Gerold's Sohn/Kaiserlich-Königl. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Wien [1869 on title page] - get paper here
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  • Zug, G. R., I. Ineich, G. Pregill, and A. M. Hamilton. 2012. Lizards of Tonga and a description of a new Tongan treeskink (Squamata: Scincidae: Emoia samoensis Group). Pacific Science 66(2):225-237 - get paper here
  • ZUG, G.R. 2013. Reptiles and Amphibians of the Pacific Islands. University of California Press, Berkeley, 306 pp. - get paper here
  • ZUG, GEORGE R.; ALISON M. HAMILTON & CHRISTOPHER C. AUSTIN 2011. A new Emoia samoensis group lizard (Squamata: Scincidae) from the Cook Islands, South-central Pacific. Zootaxa 2765: 47–57 - get paper here
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  • Zweifel R G 1979. Variation in the scincid lizard Lipinia noctua and notes on other Lipinia from the New Guinea region. American Museum Novitates (2676): 1-21 - get paper here
  • Zweifel R G 1980. Results of the Archbold Expeditions, No. 103. Frogs and lizards from the Huon Peninsula, Papua New Guinea. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 165 (5) : 390-434 - get paper here
 
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