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Tachygyia microlepis (DUMÉRIL & BIBRON, 1839)

IUCN Red List - Tachygyia microlepis - Extinct, EX
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Higher TaxaScincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymEumeces microlepis DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 659
Otosaurus microlepis — GRAY [1845?]: 93
Liosoma microlepis — FITZINGER 1843: 22
Lygosoma microlepis — BOULENGER 1887: 301
Riopa (Eugongylus) microlepis — SMITH 1937: 229
Tachygyia [sic] microlepis — MITTLEMAN 1952
Tachygia [sic] microlepis — GREER 1974: 14
Eugongylus microlepis — BÖHME 1976
Tachygyia [sic] microlepis — ADLER, AUSTIN & DUDLEY 1995 
DistributionTonga Islands, Friendly Islands (fide SMITH 1937); Tongatabu (fide BOULENGER 1887).

Type locality: Tongatabou  
Reproduction 
TypesSyntypes: MNHN-RA 2919 and MNHN-RA 5493, collected by Quoy & Gaimard. 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): “Differs essentially from Riopa as follows: lower eyelid scaly, lacking a more or less transparent or translucent disc; frontoparietals united, interparietal reduced; limbs very robust and long, broadly overlapping when appressed” (MITTLEMAN (1952)


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CommentConservation: Apparently extinct (Ineich and Zug 1996). The first and only record of this Tongan lizard is from the early nineteenth-century report of the L’Astrolabe expedition (Dumont d’Urville 1832) when they were discovered. Ineich and Böhme 2024 believe that t. microlepis is still extant in Southern Tonga.

Distribution: Erroneously reported from New Zealand.

Synonymy partly after BOULENGER 1887.

Type species: Eumeces microlepis is the type species of the genus Tachygyia MITTLEMAN 1952.

Abundance: only known from its original description (Meiri et al. 2017). 
EtymologyNamed after micro (= small) and Greek “lepis” = scale, referring to the large number of small scales around midbody in this species.

The genus was named after the Greek word tachys meaning “fast” and gyia, always used in plural, meaning “articulation of a limb” (such as elbow or knee joint) or just “limb with an articulation”. 
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
  • Böhme,W. 1976. Über die Gattung Eugongylus Fitzinger, mit Beschreibung einer neuen Art (Reptilia: Scincidae). Bonner Zoologische Beiträge 27: 245-251 - 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
  • Duméril, A. M. C. and G. Bibron. 1839. Erpétologie Générale on Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles. Vol. 5. Roret/Fain et Thunot, Paris, 871 pp. - get paper here
  • Fitzinger, L. 1843. Systema Reptilium, fasciculus primus, Amblyglossae. Braumüller et Seidel, Wien: 106 pp. - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1845. Catalogue of the specimens of lizards in the collection of the British Museum. Trustees of die British Museum/Edward Newman, London: xxvii + 289 pp. - get paper here
  • Greer, A.E. 1974. The generic relationships of the scincid lizard genus Leiolopisma and its relatives. Australian Journal of Zoology 31: 1-67. - get paper here
  • Ineich, I., & Böhme, W. 2024. Was it premature to declare the giant Tongan Ground Skink Tachygyia microlepis extinct?. Salamandra 60(1): 82–93 - get paper here
  • Ineich, Ivan; Zug, George R. 1996. Tachygyia, the giant Tongan skink: extinct or extant? Cryptozoology 12: 30-35
  • Meiri, Shai; Aaron M. Bauer, Allen Allison, Fernando Castro-Herrera, Laurent Chirio, Guarino Colli, Indraneil Das, Tiffany M. Doan, Frank Glaw, Lee L. Grismer, Marinus Hoogmoed, Fred Kraus, Matthew LeBreton, Danny Meirte, Zoltán T. Nagy, Cristiano d 2017. Extinct, obscure or imaginary: the lizard species with the smallest ranges. Diversity and Distributions - get paper here
  • Smith, M.A. 1937. A review of the genus Lygosoma (Scincidae: Reptilia) and its allies. Records of the Indian Museum 39 (3): 213-234
 
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