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Plestiodon tetragrammus BAIRD, 1859

IUCN Red List - Plestiodon tetragrammus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaScincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
SubspeciesPlestiodon tetragrammus brevilineatus (COPE 1880)
Plestiodon tetragrammus tetragrammus BAIRD 1859 
Common NamesE: Four-lined Skink
E: Short-lined Skink [brevilineatus]
E: Four-lined Skink [tetragrammus]
S: Lincer de Cuatro Lineas 
SynonymPlestiodon tetragrammus BAIRD 1859: 256
Eumeces tetragrammus — COPE 1875: 45
Eumeces tetragrammus var. funebrosus COPE 1900: 661
Eumeces tetragrammus — TAYLOR 1936: 298
Eumeces tetragrammus — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 165
Eumeces tetragrammus tetragrammus — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 132
Eumeces tetragrammus — LINER 1994
Plestiodon tetragrammus — SCHMITZ et al. 2004

Eumeces tetragrammus brevilineatus COPE 1880
Eumeces brevilineatus COPE 1880: 18
Eumeces brevilineatus — TAYLOR 1936: 283
Eumeces brevilineatus — AXTELL 1939
Eumeces brevilineatus — TAYLOR 1943: 274
Eumeces brevilineatus — SMITH 1946
Eumeces brevilineatus — JAMESON & FLURY 1949
Eumeces brevilineatus — SMITH & TAYLOR 1950: 164
Eumeces brevilineatus — ANDERSON 1962
Eumeces tetragrammus brevilineatus — LINER et al. 1977
Eumeces tetragrammus brevilineatus — TANNER 1987
Eumeces tetragrammus brevilineatus — CONANT & COLLINS 1991: 132
Plestiodon tetragrammus brevilineatus — COLLINS & TAGGART 2009 
DistributionUSA (Texas, Arizona [HR 30: 52]),
Mexico (Chihuahua, S Zacatecas, NE Coahuila, N Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, Quéretaro, Guanajuato, Hidalgo)

brevilineatus: USA (Texas), Mexico (Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon), USA (S Texas). Type locality: Helotes, Bexar County, Texas.

tetragrammus: Mexico (Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Nuevo Leon). USA (Texas). Type locality: “Lower Rio Grande”. Later indicated as “Matamoras, Mex.” by BAIRD (fide SMITH & TAYLOR 1950).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: USNM 3124; Syntype: INHS (= UIMNH) 40741
Lectotype: USNM 10159, designated by Taylor 1936, one of four cotypes; G. W. Marnock collector. [brevilineatus] 
Diagnosis 
CommentDistribution: Mesa de la Estacada, 4.3 km S, 8.5 km W Mineral El Realito (21º 33’ 43’’ N, 100º 18’ 59’’W; 1360 msnm), municipality of San Luis de la Paz, Guanajuato, México [Campos-Rodríguez et al. 2009]. Not in Sonora according to Enderson et al. 2009 and Lemos-Espinal et al. 2019. Not in Durango fide Lemos-Espinal (2018). Not in Sinaloa (Lemos-Espinal & Smith 2020).

Genetics: P. multivirgatus acquired its mitochondrial genome from P. tetragrammus after their initial divergence (Moseley et al. 2015). 
EtymologyAccording to Lieb (1990) and Lemos-Espinal and Smith (2007), the specific name was derived from the Greek words tetra, meaning "four" and gramme meaning "line," in reference to the four dorsal stripes (Lemos-Espinal & Dixon 2013). 
References
  • Anderson, J.D. 1962. Eumeces brevilineatus in Chihuahua and San Luis Potosi, Mexico Herpetologica 18 (1): 56-57. - get paper here
  • Axtell, Ralph W. 1959. AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE BLACK GAP WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA, BREWSTER COUNTY, TEXAS. Southwestern Naturalist 4 (2): 88-109
  • Baird, S.F. 1859. Description of new genera and species of North American lizards in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 10: 253-256 [1858] - get paper here
  • Bartlett, R. D. & Bartlett, P. 1999. A Field Guide to Texas Reptiles and Amphibians. Gulf Publishing Co., Houston, Texas, 331 pp.
  • Blackburn, D.G. 1993. STANDARDIZED CRITERIA FOR THE RECOGNITION OF REPRODUCTIVE MODES IN SQUAMATE REPTILES. Herpetologica 49 (1): 118-132 - get paper here
  • BRANDLEY, MATTHEW C.; OTA, HIDETOSHI; HIKIDA, TSUTOMU; NIETO MONTES DE OCA, ADRIAN; FERIA-ORTIZ, MANUEL; GUO, XIANGUANG; WANG, YUEZHAO 2012. The phylogenetic systematics of blue-tailed skinks (Plestiodon) and the family Scincidae. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 165 (1): 163-189 - get paper here
  • Campos-Rodríguez, J. I., C. Elizalde-Arellano, J. C. López-Vidal, G. F. Aguilar-Martínez, S. N. Ramos-Reyes y R. Hernández-Arciga 2009. Nuevos registros de anfibios y reptiles para Guanajuato, procedentes de la Reserva de la Biosfera “Sierra Gorda de Guanajuato” y zonas adyacentes. Acta Zoológica Mexicana (n. s.) 25 (2): 269-282 - get paper here
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  • Cope, E.D. 1880. On the zoological position of Texas. Bull. US Natl. Mus., No. 17: 1-51 - get paper here
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  • Leyte-Manrique, Adrian; Efrén M. Hernández Navarro y Luis A. Escobedo-Morales 2015. Herpetofauna de Guanajuato: Un análisis histórico y contemporáneo de su conocimiento. Revista Mexicana de Herpetología 1(1): 1–14
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  • Lieb, Carl S. 1985. Systematics and distribution of the skinks allied to Eumeces tetragrammus (Sauria: Scincidae). Contributions in Science, Los Angeles (357): 1-19 - get paper here
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