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Ristella rurkii GRAY, 1839

IUCN Red List - Ristella rurkii - Data Deficient, DD
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Higher TaxaScincidae, Ristellinae (Ristellini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Rurk's Ristella, Burke’s Catskink 
SynonymRistella rurkii GRAY 1839: 333
Ateuchosaurus travancoricus BEDDOME 1870: 33 (part.)
Ristella travancorica — BEDDOME 1871
Ristella malabarica STOLICZKA 1871: 195
Ristella rurkii — BOULENGER 1887: 357
Ristella rurkii — HORA 1927: 6
Ristella rurki — SMITH 1935: 331
Ristella rurkii — DAS 1996: 48
Ristella rurkii — GANESH — 2018 
DistributionIndia (Anaimalai Hills, Travancore and Palni Hills, Kerala)  
Reproductionoviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) 
TypesNeotype: BMNH 1946.8.15.67, designated by Shea (2025). The holotype is now lost, formerly FPM; types on BMNH online catalogue listed as BMNH 1946.8.15.64-68. 
DiagnosisAdditional details, e.g. a detailed description or comparisons (1745 characters), are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. 
CommentType species: Ristella rurkii GRAY 1839: 333 is the type species of the genus Ristella GRAY 1839. Ristella is also the type genus of the family Ristellidae Hedges & Conn 2012: 28 and of the tribus Ristellini Hedges 2014 (fide Shea 2021).

Phylogenetics: for a phylogenetic analysis of the position of Ristella see Ghosh et al. 2023.

Abundance: Rare. This is one of the species called 'lost' and 'rediscovered' by Lindken et al. 2024.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
References
  • Beddome, R.H. 1870. Descriptions of some new lizards from the Madras Presidency. Madras Monthly J. Med. Sci. 1: 30-35
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G. A. 1887. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) III. Lacertidae, Gerrhosauridae, Scincidae, Anelytropsidae, Dibamidae, Chamaeleontidae. London: 575 pp. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, George A. 1890. The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor & Francis, London, xviii, 541 pp. - get paper here
  • Ganesh, S.R. 2018. The rediscovery of Rurk’s Cat Skink Ristella rurkii Gray, 1839 (Reptilia: Ristellidae) with remarks on distribution and natural history. Journal of Threatened Taxa 10(10): 12376–12381; - get paper here
  • Ghosh, A., Sil, M., Ukuwela, K. B., & Datta‐Roy, A. 2023. Independent origins or single dispersal? Phylogenetic study supports early Cenozoic origin of three endemic Indo‐Sri Lankan Lygosomine skink genera. Zoologica Scripta - get paper here
  • Gray,J.E. 1839. Catalogue of the slender-tongued saurians, with descriptions of many new genera and species. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 2 (11): 331-337 [continued from page 293] - get paper here
  • Hora, S.L. 1927. Notes on lizards in the Indian Museum. III. On the unnamed collection of lizards of the family Scincidae. Records of the Indian Museum 29: 1-6
  • Lindken T.; Anderson, C. V., Ariano-Sánchez, D., Barki, G., Biggs, C., Bowles, P., Chaitanya, R., Cronin, D. T., Jähnig, S. C., Jeschke, J. M., Kennerley, R. J., Lacher, T. E. Jr., Luedtke, J. A., Liu, C., Long, B., Mallon, D., Martin, G. M., Meiri, 2024. What factors influence the rediscovery of lost tetrapod species? Global Change Biology, 30: 1-18 - get paper here
  • Palot, M.J. 2015. A checklist of reptiles of Kerala, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 7(13): 8010–8022 - get paper here
  • SHEA, G. M. 2021. Nomenclature of supra-generic units within the Family Scincidae (Squamata) Zootaxa 5067 (3): 301–351 - get paper here
  • Shea, G. M. 2025. The Mysterious Doctor Rurk and His Eponymous Catskink, Ristella rurkii Gray 1839 (Squamata: Scincidae: Lygosominae: Ristellini) with Notes on Other Collectors for the Museum of the Army Medical Service at Chatham. Bibliotheca Herpetologica 19(3):12–27 - get paper here
  • Smith, M.A. 1935. The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Reptiles and Amphibia, Vol. II. Sauria. Taylor and Francis, London, 440 pp.
  • Stoliczka, F. 1871. Notes on new or little-known Indian lizards. Proc. asiat. Soc. Bengal (Calcutta) 1871: 192-195 - 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
  • Venugopal, P.D. 2010. An updated and annotated list of Indian lizards (Reptilia: Sauria) based on a review of distribution records and checklists of Indian reptiles. Journal of Threatened Taxa 2 (3): 725-738. - get paper here
  • Zimin, A., Zimin, S. V., Shine, R., Avila, L., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., Barki, G., de Oliveira Caetano, G. H., Castro Herrera, F., Chapple, D. G., Chirio, L., Colli, G. R., Doan, T. M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L. L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton 2022. A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–16 - get paper here
 
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