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Ctenotus taeniolatus (WHITE, 1790)

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Copper-tailed Ctenotus, Copper-Tailed Skink 
SynonymLacerta taeniolata WHITE 1790: 245
Scincus octolineatus DAUDIN 1802: 285 (nom. substit. pro Lacerta taeniolata)
Scincus decemlineatus LACÉPÈDE 1804: 208
Scincus undecimstriatus KUHL 1820: 129 (part.)
Scincus multilineatus LESSON 1830: 45
Lygosoma taeniolata — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 734
Hinulia taeniolata — LUCAS & FROST 1894: 68
Ctenotus taeniolatus — COGGER 1983: 153
Ctenotus miowera WELLS & WELLINGTON 1985 (fide SHEA & SADLIER 1999)
Ctenotus taeniolatus — COGGER 2000: 447 
DistributionAustralia (New South Wales, Queensland,Victoria)

Type locality: N. S. W.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: lost, was BMNH xv.16a (presumed lost)
Holotype: nondesignated, MNHP (not found), from Australia [Scincus decemlineatus]
Syntypes: from Australia; for only extant syntype see Leiolopisma entrecasteauxii (Duméril and Bibron, 1839); remaining syntypes not found, but unpublished Kuhl figure of S. undecimstriatus indicates that at least one syntype was Ctenotus taeniolatus [Scincus undecimstriatus]
Syntypes: MNHP 2983, from N. S. W. and Bourou and Ambon Ils., Indonesia, (Australia), 2 specimens, only one of which, the figured specimen, has been found, see Roux-Estève (1979) [Scincus multilineatus] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus). A large group of small to medium- sized sphenomorphine scincid lizards, characterized by cylindrical body shape, long snout and tail, smooth shiny scales, eyelids without transparent window, parietals in contact, pointed ear lobules, well-developed short limbs each with five narrow digits terminating with a claw, and color pattern usually involving longitudinal stripes often with complex sides with spots and dashes. Terrestrial; diurnal; egg-laying [Rabosky et al. 2017].
 
CommentSynonymy after COGGER 1983. Hutchingson & Donnellan 1992 argued that Scincus decemlineatus LACÉPÈDE 1804 could be Pseudemoia pagenstecheri. C. miowera was diagnosed solely on the basis of smaller size than C. taeniolatus, and reidentified a previously published illustration. In the absence of quantifiable differences and an analysis of body size throughout the range of C. taeniolatus, Shea & Sadlier 1999 tentatively synonymised the two species. Prates et al. 2023 showed that many species within Ctenotus are paraphyletic, although their precise relationships and synonymies remain unresolved.

Type Species: Lacerta taeniolata WHITE 1790 is the type species of the genus Ctenotus STORR 1964.

Phylogenetics: see Singhal et al. 2017, 2018 and Prates et al. 2021, 2023 for a phylogeny of Australian sphenomorphine skinks and Ctenotus in particular.

Sympatry: in Australia, 14 or more species of Ctenotus may occur in regional sympatry in the western and central arid zone (Pianka 1969, 1986; James 1991; James & Shine 2000; Rabosky et al. 2007).

Limb morphology: 5 digits, 5 toes (Singhal et al. 2018, Cogger 2014)

Morphology: Hutchinson et al. 2021 present a table of morphological character states across 20 Australian sphenomorphine skinks, including this genus. 
EtymologyThe genus name is from the Greek kten (comb) and ot (ear), forming ‘comb-eared’ in reference to the conspicuous ear lobules (Storr 1964). 
References
  • Bauer, A.M. 1999. Notes on John White's Journal of a Voyage to new South Wales (1790), a Classic of Australian Herpetology. International Society for the History and Bibliography of Herpetology 1 (1): 16-19 - 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.
  • Colgan, D. J.; D. O’Meally and R. A Sadlier 2009. Phylogeographic patterns in reptiles on the New England Tablelands at the south-western boundary of the McPherson Macleay Overlap. D. J. Colgan; D. O’Meally and R. A Sadlier. Australian Journal of Zoology 57: 317-328 - get paper here
  • 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
  • Daudin, F. M. 1802. Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière des Reptiles, Vol. 4. F. Dufart, Paris, 397 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
  • Eldridge, M. D. B., S. Ingleby, A. G. King, S. V. Mahony, H. E. Parnaby, C. A. Beatson, A. Divljan, G. J. Frankham, A. C. Hay, R. E. Major, S. E. Reader, R. A. Sadlier, and L. R. Tsang. 2020. Australian Museum surveys of the vertebrate fauna of Coolah Tops National Park, NSW. Technical Reports of the Australian Museum Online 30: 1–26 - get paper here
  • Evans MJ, MacGregor C, Lindenmayer D 2024. A misleading tail: A long-term study of reptile responses to multiple disturbances undermined by a change in surveying techniques. PLoS ONE 19(6): e0305518 - get paper here
  • Hutchinson M N. DONNELLAN S C. 1992. Taxonomy and genetic variation in the Australian lizards of the genus Pseudemoia (Scincidae Lygosominae). Journal of Natural History 26 (1): 215-264. - get paper here
  • Hutchinson, M. N., Couper, P., Amey, A., & Wilmer, J. W. 2021. Diversity and Systematics of Limbless Skinks (Anomalopus) from Eastern Australia and the Skeletal Changes that Accompany the Substrate Swimming Body Form. Journal of Herpetology 55 (4): 361-384 - get paper here
  • Kay, G.M.; D. Michael; M. Crane; S. Okada; C. MacGregor; D. Florance; D. Trengove; L. McBurney; D. Blair; D.B. Lindenmayer. 2013. A list of reptiles and amphibians from Box Gum Grassy Woodlands in south-eastern Australia. Check List 9 (3):476-481 - get paper here
  • Kuhl,H. 1820. Beiträge zur Zoologie und vergleichenden Anatomie. Hermannsche Buchhandlung, Frankfurt, 152 pp. - get paper here
  • LaCépède, B. G. E. L. 1804. Mémoire sur plusieurs animaux de la Nouvelle- Hollande dont la description n’a pas encore été publiée. Annales du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 4:184-211 - get paper here
  • Lesson, R.P. 1830. Description de quelques reptiles nouveaux ou peu connus. In: M.L.I. Duperrey, Voyage Autour du Monde Execute par Ordre du Roi, sur la Corvette de La Majeste, La Coquille, Pendant les Annees 1822, 1823, 1824 et 1825. 2. Zoologie Tome 2, Partie 1. Arthur Bertrand, Paris: 1-65 [published 1829 fide Ivan Ineich] - get paper here
  • Lucas, A. H. S. & Frost, C. 1894. The lizards indigenous to Victoria. Proc. R. Soc. Vict. (ns) 6: 24-92 - get paper here
  • Michael, D.R.; D.B. Lindenmayer; M. Crane; C. MacGregor; R. Montague-Drake; L. McBurney. 2011. Reptilia, Murray catchment, New South Wales, southeastern Australia. Check List 7 (1):25-29 - get paper here
  • Mo, Matthew 2015. Herpetofaunal community of the constructed Lime Kiln Bay Wetland, south Sydney, New South Wales. Victorian Naturalist 132 (3): 64-72 - get paper here
  • Murphy, Michael J. 2010. ADDITIONS TO THE HERPETOFAUNA OF GORE CREEK RESERVE AND LANE COVE BUSHLAND PARK IN INNER SUBURBAN SYDNEY, NSW. Herpetofauna 40 (2): 103-110 - get paper here
  • Osborne, Will & Anke Maria Hoefer 2018. Frogs and reptiles found at Black Mountain: fifty years of records, from museum collections to community-based photo mapping. Black Mountain Symposium Background Paper No. 9 - get paper here
  • Parker, Scott L.; Christopher R. Murphy, and Michael B. Thompson 2010. Uterine angiogenesis in squamate reptiles: Implications for the evolution of viviparity. Herp. Cons. Biol. 5 (2) - get paper here
  • Pike, David A.; Elizabeth A. Roznik, Jonathan K. Webb, and Richard Shine 2020. Life History of the Coppertail Skink (Ctenotus taeniolatus) in Southeastern Australia. Herpetological Conservation and Biology, 15(2): 409-415 - get paper here
  • Prates, I., Singhal, S., Marchán-Rivadeneira, M. R., Grundler, M. R., Moritz, C., Donnellan, S., & Rabosky, D. 2021. Genetic and Ecogeographic Controls on Species Cohesion in Australia’s Most Diverse Lizard Radiation. American Naturalist 199 (2): E57-E75 - get paper here
  • Roux-Estève, R. 1979. Liste des Amphibiens et Reptiles des collections du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris, récoltés par Lesueur (1778-1846). Bull. Trim. Soc. Géol. Normandie et Amis Muséum du Havre 66: 25-29
  • Shea, Glenn M; Sadlier, Ross A 1999. A catalogue of the non-fossil amphibian and reptile type specimens in the collection of the Australian Museum: types currently, previously and purportedly present. TECHNICAL REPORTS OF THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM 15, 1999: 1-91 - get paper here
  • Singhal, Sonal; Huateng Huang, Maggie R. Grundler, María R. Marchán-Rivadeneira, Iris Holmes, Pascal O. Title, Stephen C. Donnellan, and Daniel L. Rabosky 2018. Does Population Structure Predict the Rate of Speciation? A Comparative Test across Australia’s Most Diverse Vertebrate Radiation. The American Naturalist - get paper here
  • Singhal, Sonal; Huateng Huang, Pascal O. Title, Stephen C. Donnellan, Iris Holmes, Daniel L. Rabosky 2017. Genetic diversity is largely unpredictable but scales with museum occurrences in a species-rich clade of Australian lizards. [Ctenotus] Proc. R. Soc. B 2017 284 20162588; DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2588 - get paper here
  • Smith, Shannon M.; Stow, Adam J. 2008. Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci from the coppertail skink (Ctenotus taeniolatus). Molecular Ecology Resources 8(4):923-925 - get paper here
  • Storr G M 1978. Notes on the Ctenotus (Lacertilia, Scincidae) of Queensland. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. 6 (3): 319-332 - get paper here
  • Storr, G.M. 1964. Ctenotus, a new generic name for a group of Australian skinks. Western Australian Naturalist 9: 84–85 - get paper here
  • Swan, G.; Sadlier, R.; Shea, G. 2017. A field guide to reptiles of New South Wales. Reed New Holland, 328 pp.
  • Swanson, S. 1976. Lizards of Australia. Angus & Robertson, Sydney 80 pp.
  • Taylor, J.A. 1985. Reproductive Biology of the Australian Lizard Ctenotus taeniolatus Herpetologica 41 (4): 408-418. - get paper here
  • Taylor, J.A. 1986. Seasonal Energy Storage in the Australian Lizard, Ctenotus taeniolatus Copeia 1986 (2): 445-453. - get paper here
  • White, J. 1790. Journal of a voyage to new South Wales, with sixty-five plates of non descript animals, birds, lizards, serpents, curious cones of trees and other natural productions. Debrett, London, 229 pp. - get paper here
 
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