You are here » home › advanced search › Cryptoblepharus metallicus

Cryptoblepharus metallicus (BOULENGER, 1887)

iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Cryptoblepharus metallicus?

Add your own observation of
Cryptoblepharus metallicus »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

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 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) 
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. 
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
  • 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
  • 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
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:


Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator