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Morethia butleri (STORR, 1963)

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Woodland Morethia Skink 
SynonymAblepharus butleri STORR 1963
Ablepharus butleri — PIANKA 1969
Morethia butleri — STORR 1972: 76
Morethia butleri — GREER 1974: 21
Morethia butleri — COGGER 1983: 180
Morethia butleri — COGGER 2000: 547
Morethia butleri — WILSON & SWAN 2010 
DistributionAustralia (South Australia,Western Australia)

Type locality: 4 mi E of Leonora, 28°52’ S, 121° 23’ E, W.A.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: WAM R20615 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (n=31): Supraciliaries 6 (rarely 7), first largest, remainder forming a decreasing their junction with supraoculars nearly linear. Further distinguishable from M. boulengeri by sharply keeled subdigital lamellae. (Storr 1972)


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Comment 
EtymologyNamed after Dr. William Henry "Harry" Butler (b. 1930) who trained as a teacher but worked as a consultant and collector (1963), undertaking a major study of Western Australian fauna. He also presented the popular ABC television series In the Wild (1976). 
References
  • Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
  • Bush, B. 1981. Reptiles of the Kalgoorlie-Esperance Region. B. Bush, Perth, 46 pp - get paper here
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • Couper, P., Covacevich, J., Amey, A. & Baker, A. 2006. The genera of skinks (Family Scincidae) of Australia and its island territories: diversity, distribution and identification. in: Merrick, J.R., Archer, M., Hickey, G.M. & Lee, M.S.Y. (eds.). Evolution and Zoogeography of Australasian Vertebrates. Australian Scientific Publishing, Sydney, pp. 367-384
  • Greer A E 1981. A new species of Morethia (Lacertilia: Scincidae) from northern Australia, with comments on the biology and relationships of the genus. Rec. Austral. Mus. 33 (2): 89-122 [1980] - 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
  • Hallermann, J. 2020. An annotated list of reptiles and amphibians from the 1905 Hamburg expedition to southwest Australia deposited in the Zoological Museum Hamburg. Evolutionary Systematics 4: 61 - get paper here
  • Jolly, C., Schembri, B., & Macdonald, S. 2023. Field Guide to the Reptiles of the Northern Territory. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne - get paper here
  • Maryan, B., Gaikhorst, G., & Parkhurst, B. 2024. The terrestrial herpetofauna of the Zuytdorp coast and hinterland of Western Australia: Exceptional richness in a global biodiversity hotspot. Western Australian Naturalist, 33, 3
  • Pianka, E. R. 1969. Habitat specificity, speciation, and species density in Australian desert lizards. Ecology 50 (3): 498-502 - get paper here
  • Pianka, E. R. 2011. Notes on the ecology of some uncommon skinks in the Great Victoria Desert. Western Australian Naturalist 28: 50-60 - get paper here
  • Rawlinson, P. A. 1976. The endemic Australian lizard genus Morethia (Scincidae: Lygosominae) in southern Australia. Mem. Natl. Mus. Vict. 37: 27-41 - get paper here
  • Reeder, T.W. 2003. A phylogeny of the Australian Sphenomorphus group (Scincidae: Squamata) and the phylogenetic placement of the crocodile skinks (Tribolonotus): Bayesian approaches to assessing congruence and obtaining confidence in maximum likelihood inferred relationships. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 27: 384–397 - get paper here
  • Smyth, M. 1972. The genus Morethia (Lacertilia: Scincidae) in South Australia. Rec. South Austral. Mus. 16 (12): 1-14 - get paper here
  • Storr, G. M. 1963. Ablepharus butleri. A new scincid lizard from Australia. Western Australian Naturalist 9: 46-47 - get paper here
  • Storr, G. M. 1972. The genus Morethia (Lacertilia: Scincidae) in Western Australia. J. R. Soc. West. Aust. 55: 73-79 [1973]
  • Storr, G. M.; L. A. Smith, and R. E. Johnstone 1999. Lizards of Western Australia. I. Skinks. Revised Edition. Western Australian Museum
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
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