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Cryptoblepharus metallicus (BOULENGER, 1887)

IUCN Red List - Cryptoblepharus metallicus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaScincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Metallic snake-eyed skink 
SynonymAblepharus boutoni metallicus BOULENGER 1887: 347
Ablepharus boutonii metallicus — WAITE 1929
Ablepharus boutoni metallicus – MERTENS 1931: 119
Ablepharus boutoni metallicus – LOVERIDGE 1934: 375
Ablepharus boutonii metallicus — TANNER 1952: 11
Ablepharus boutoni metallicus – MITCHELL 1964: 337
Ablepharus boutoni metallicus – WORRELL 1963: 35;
Ablepharus boutoni metallicus – MERTENS 1964: 106.
Cryptoblepharus boutonii metallicus – COGGER & LINDNER 1974: 83.
Cryptoblepharus metallicus – WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985: 27.
Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus – COGGER et al. 1983: 142
Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus – WILSON & KNOWLES 1988: 120
Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus – HORNER 1991: 18
Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus – COVACEVICH & COUPER 1991: 357;
Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus – EHMANN 1992: 182
Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus – STANGER et al. 1998: 23
Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus – COGGER 2000: 406
Cryptoblepharus plagiocephalus – WILSON & SWAN 2003: 148
Cryptoblepharus metallicus — HORNER 2007: 93 
DistributionAustralia (from inland south-eastern Queensland, through eastern and northern Queensland, the northern half of the Northern Territory to the Kimberley region of Western Australia)

Type locality: most likely on the bank of the Victoria River, near the present-day town of Timber Creek, Northern Territory (see comment).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: BMNH 57.10.24.38. Designated by Wells & Wellington (1985). 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A large (45–50 mm SVL), short-legged, shallow-headed, arboreal Cryptoblepharus, distinguished from Australian congeners by combination of modal values of six supraciliary scales, 24 mid-body scale rows and 48 paravertebral scales; mean values of hindlimb length 41.4% of snout-vent length, head depth 41.7% of head length, tail length 144.2% of snout-vent length; smooth subdigital lamellae; rounded, usually callused plantar scales; greyish, longitudinally aligned body pattern and being arboreal. (Horner 2007)


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CommentSympatry. C. ruber, C. cygnatus, C. juno, C. adamsi, C. exochus, C. l. horneri, C. l. litoralis, C. mertensi, C. pannosus, C. pulcher, C. tytthos, C. virgatus and C. zoticus.

Distribution: No type locality was given, though the general area can be determined from the expedition’s journal (Gregory and Gregory 1884).

Synonymy: Storr (1976) synonymised A. b. metallicus
with C. plagiocephalus.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
EtymologyPresumably named after the Latin metallicus (metallic) referring to the metallic sheen of the dorsal scales. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) 
References
  • 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
  • Cogger H.G., Cameron EE & Cogger HM 1983. Zoological Catalogue of Australia, Volume 1: AMPHIBIA AND REPTILIA. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.
  • Cogger, H. G. 2014. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 7th ed. CSIRO Publishing, xxx + 1033 pp. - get paper here
  • Cogger, H. G. & Lindner, D. A. 1974. Frogs and reptiles. In: Fauna survey of the Port Essington District, Cobourg Peninsula, Northern Territory of Australia. Frith, H. J. & Calaby, J. H. (eds. ). CSIRO Div. Wildl. Res. Tech. Pap. 28: 63-107
  • Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, 6th ed. Ralph Curtis Publishing, Sanibel Island, 808 pp.
  • D'Amore, Domenic Corvasce; David Meadows, Simon Clulow, Jeremiah Sean Doody, David Rhind, Colin McHenry 2018. Increasing dietary breadth through allometry: bite forces in sympatric Australian skinks. Herpetology Notes 11: 179-187 - get paper here
  • Ehmann, Harold 1992. Encyclopedia of Australian Animals: Reptiles. Angus & Robertson, Pymble, NSW, 495 pp.
  • Horner, P. 1991. Skinks of the Northern Territory. Northern Territory Mus., Darwin, Handbook Ser. no. 2 174 pp.
  • Horner, P. 2007. Systematics of the snake-eyed skinks, Cryptoblepharus Wiegmann (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae) - an Australian based review. The Beagle Supplement 3: 21-198
  • Jolly, C., Schembri, B., & Macdonald, S. 2023. Field Guide to the Reptiles of the Northern Territory. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1934. Australian reptiles in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 77: 243-383 - get paper here
  • Mertens, R. 1964. Weitere Mitteilingen uber die Rassen von Ablepharus boutonii. III. Zoologischer Anzeiger 173: 100–110
  • Mertens,R. 1931. Ablepharus boutonii (DESJARDIN) und seine geographische Variation. Zool. Jahrb. Syst. 61: 63-210
  • Tanner, V. M. 1952. Pacific Islands Herpetology No VI. Tahiti and Marquesas Islands, New Guinea and Australia. Great Basin Naturalist 12 (1-4): 1-12 - 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
  • Wells, R. W. and Wellington, C. R. 1985. A classification of the Amphibia and Reptilia of Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology, Supplementary Series (1): 1-61 [sometimes cited as 1983] - get paper here
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
  • Wilson, Stephen K. & Knowles, David G. 1988. Australia's Reptiles: A Photographic Reference to the Terrestrial Reptiles of Australia. Cornstalk Publishing, Pymble, NSW, 447 pp.
  • Wilson,S. & Swan, G. 2003. A complete guide to the Reptiles of Australia. Princeton University Press, 480 pp. [review in Sauria 26 (3): 32]
  • Worrell, E. 1963. Reptiles of Australia. Angus & Robertson (Sydney), xv + 207 pp
 
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