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Scincella devorator (DAREVSKY, ORLOV & CUC, 2004)

IUCN Red List - Scincella devorator - Data Deficient, DD
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Higher TaxaScincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymSphenomorphus devorator DAREVSKY, ORLOV & CUC 2004
Sphenomorphus devorator — NGUYEN et al. 2009
Scincella devorator — NGUYEN et al. 2011
Scincella devorator — PHAM et al. 2025
Scincella devorator — NGUYEN et al. 2025 
DistributionN Vietnam (Quang Ning Province, Son La)

Type locality: Uong Bi, Quang Ning Province  
Reproductionoviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) 
TypesHolotype: ZISP 22909 (adult male) 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A slender medium sized skink with no auricular lobules and deeply sunk tympanum; four supraoculars; 8 supraciliaries; 7 supralabials; nuchals present; 30 scales round body; scales of two vertebral rows on the neck considerably broader then long; 19 lamellae beneath fourth toe; short limbs (do not overlap when adpressed); a pair of enlarged preanals. Known only the holotype specimen.


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CommentDistribution: see map in Pham et al. 2025. 
EtymologyThe species name is from latin devorare — to devour. The skink bites off the prey’s abdomen, often grasshoppers, letting the trunk go alive. 
References
  • BARABANOV, ANDREI & KONSTANTIN MILTO 2017. An annotated type catalogue of the anguid, dibamid, scincid and varanid lizards in the Department of Herpetology, Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia (Reptilia: Sauria: Anguidae, Dibamidae, Scincidae and Varanidae). Zootaxa 4244 (1): 065–078 - get paper here
  • Bobrov V.V., Semenov D.V. 2008. Lizards of Vietnam [in Russian]. Moscow, 236 pp.
  • Bragin, A.M., Zenin, E.S., Dang, C.H., Dinh, T.V.A., Nguyen, T.V. & Poyarkov, N.A. 2025. A new mountain species of the genus Scincella Mittleman, 1950 (Squamata: Scincidae) from Ha Giang Province, northern Vietnam. Zootaxa, 5636 (2), 201–236 - get paper here
  • Darevsky, I. S., N. L. Orlov & H Cuc, T. 2004. Two new lygosomine skinks of the genus Sphenomorphus Fitzinger, 1843 (Sauria, Scincidae) from northern Vietnam. Russ. J. Herpetol. 11 (2): 111-120 - get paper here
  • Dau V, Hoang T, Nguyen T, Pham A 2024. New records and an updated list of reptiles from Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam. Biodiversity Data Journal 12: e134976 - get paper here
  • Neang, Thy; Somaly Chan, Nikolay A. Poyarkov, Jr.. 2018. A new species of smooth skink (Squamata: Scincidae: Scincella) from Cambodia. Zoological Research, DOI: 10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2018.008 - get paper here
  • Nguyen, S. N., Nguyen, L. T., Van Le, M., Nguyen, V. D. H., Phan, K. D., Vo, T. D. H., ... & Che, J. 2025. Two new skinks of the genus Scincella Mittleman, 1950 (Squamata: Scincidae) from southern Vietnam. European Journal of Taxonomy, 989, 266-288 - get paper here
  • Nguyen, S.V., Ho, C.T. and Nguyen, T.Q. 2009. Herpetofauna of Vietnam. Chimaira, Frankfurt, 768 pp.
  • Nguyen, Truong Quang; Andreas Schmitz, Tao Thien Nguyen, Nikolai L. Orlov, Wolfgang Böhme, and Thomas Ziegler 2011. Review of the Genus Sphenomorphus Fitzinger, 1843 (Squamata: Sauria: Scincidae) in Vietnam, with Description of a New Species from Northern Vietnam and Southern China and the First Record of Sphenomorphus mimicus Taylor, 1962 from Vietnam. Journal of Herpetology 45 (2): 145-154.
  • Nguyen, Truong Quang; Anh Van Pham, Hoang Van Tu, Tan Van Nguyen, Thomas Ziegler 2018. New records and an updated list of lizards from Son La Province, Vietnam. Herpetology Notes 11: 209-216 - get paper here
  • OKABE, S., MOTOKAWA, M., KOIZUMI, Y., NGUYEN, T. Q., NGUYEN, T. T., & BUI, H. T. 2024. A new species of the genus Scincella (Squamata: Scincidae) from Mount Fansipan, Hoang Lien Son Range, northwestern Vietnam. Zootaxa 5537(3), 407-423 - get paper here
  • Pham A, Le D, Nguyen S, Ziegler T, Nguyen T 2015. New provincial records of skinks (Squamata: Scincidae) from northwestern Vietnam. Biodiversity Data Journal 3: e4284; doi: 10.3897/BDJ.3.e4284 - get paper here
  • Van Pham, A., Nguyen, A. T., Nguyen, A. M. H., Dao, L. T. T., Tran, C. H. T., Le, M. D., & Nguyen, T. Q. 2025. New records and modeling potential distribution of Plestiodon tamdaoensis (Bourret, 1937) and Scincella devorator (Darevsky, Orlov & Ho, 2004) in Vietnam (Scincidae). Herpetozoa, 38, 13-19 - get paper here
  • Ziegler, T., RAUHAUS, A., TRAN, T.D., PHAM, C.T., VAN SCHINGEN, M., DANG, P.H., LE, M.D. & NGUYEN, T.Q. 2015. Die Amphibien- und Reptilienfauna der Me-Linh-Biodiversitätsstation in Nordvietnam. Sauria 37 (4): 11-44 - 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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