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Ctenotus decaneurus STORR, 1970

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
SubspeciesCtenotus decaneurus decaneurus STORR 1970
Ctenotus decaneurus yampiensis STORR 1975 
Common NamesE: Ten-lined Ctenotus
yampiensis: Yampi Ctenotus 
SynonymCtenotus decaneurus STORR 1970: 104
Ctenotus decaneurus — COGGER 1983: 145
Ctenotus decaneurus — COGGER 2000: 420
Ctenotus decaneurus — WILSON & SWAN 2010
Ctenotus decaneurus decaneurus — WILSON & SWAN 2013

Ctenotus decaneurus yampiensis STORR 1975: 235
Ctenotus yampiensis — STORR et al. 1999
Ctenotus decaneurus yampiensis — COGGER 2000: 421
Ctenotus yampiensis — COUPER et al. 2006: 380
Ctenotus decaneurus yampiensis — WILSON & SWAN 2013 
DistributionAustralia (Northern Territory, N Western Australia, W Queensland ?)

decaneurus: N Kimberleys, Western Australia and Northern Territory. Type locality: 21 mi WNW of Newry, in 15° 59’ S, 129° 00’ E, N. T.

yampiensis: Yampi Sound, W Kimberleys, Western Australia. Type locality: Wotjulum Mission Station, in 16° 1 I’ S, 123° 37’ E, W. A.  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesHolotype: WAM R23130
Holotype: WAM R11795, Noetype: WAM R11741 [yampiensis] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: A moderately small member (SVL to 54.5 mm) of the C. atlas species-group, distinguished from congeners by having three of four supraoculars in contact with frontal, frontoparietals paired, prefrontals usually separated, eight supralabials, laterally compressed toes with callose subdigital lamellae, prominent pale mid-lateral stripe, black ground colour with usually ten pale stripes on body, dark vertebral stripe, unpatterned dark upper lateral zone, pale paravertebral stripes not fused posteriorly.

Diagnosis (yampiensis): “A member of the.taeniolatus group with 10 whitish lines and stripes on a black ground, distinguishable from C. d. decaneurus by its separated nasals and more numerous midbody scales; it also seems to be larger, with relatively longer appendages, and to have more' palpebrals.” (Storr 1975: 235)

Description (yampiensis): “Snout-vent length (mm): 46-48. Length of appendages (% SVL): foreleg 25-27, hindleg 46-48, tail 205-241.
Nasals and prefrontals separated. Supraoculars 4, first 3 in contact with frontal. Supraciliaries 8. Palpebrals 10-12. Second loreal 1.1-1.2 times as wide as high. Upper labials 8. Ear lobules 4 or 5, SUbacute, second largest. Midbody scale rows 30 or 32. Lamellae under fourth toe 20 or 21, each with a wide dark callus.
Back and sides black; snout and tail pale brown. On each side a greenish-white paravertebral line and dorsolateral line and between them a greenish-white dorsal line; white midlateral stripe extending forward to lores after looping over ear aperture; and white ventrolateral stripe. Legs pale brown, longitudinally striped with blackish brown.” (Storr 1975: 235) 
CommentThe ICZN has designated a neotype for the Western Australian skink species Ctenotus yampiensis Storr, 1975 (family scincidae). Storr inadvertently designated a specimen of C. militaris Storr, 1975 as the holotype of C. decaneurus yampiensis, thus making the subspecific name a synonym of C. militaris.

The only character which reliably distinguished C. yampiensis from C. decaneurus was a higher midbody scale row count (range 29–32 vs 24–28).

Limb morphology: 5 digits, 5 toes (Singhal et al. 2018, Cogger 2014) 
References
  • Anonymous 2004. Ctenotus decaneurus yampiensis Storr, 1975 (currently C. yampiensis; Reptilia, Sauria): neotype designated. Bull. Zool. Nomenclature 61 (3): OPINION 2090 (Case 3196) - 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
  • Horner, P. 2009. Three new species of Ctenotus (Reptilia: Sauria: Scincidae) from the Kimberley region of Western Australia, with comments on the status of Ctenotus decaneurus yampiensis. Rec. West. Austr. Mus. 25 (2): 181-199 - get paper here
  • Rankin P R 1978. A new species of lizard (Lacertilia: Scincidae) from the Northern Territory, closely allied to Ctenotus decaneurus Storr. Rec. Austral. Mus. 31 (10): 395-409 - 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
  • Storr G M 1970. The genus Ctenotus (Lacertilia: Scincidae) in the Northern Territory. J. Royal Soc. Western Australia 52: 97-108 [1969] - get paper here
  • Storr, G. M. 1975. The genus Ctenotus (Lacertilia: Scincidae) in the Kimberley and North-west Divisions of Western Australia. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. 3: 209-243 - get paper here
  • Storr, G. M., Smith, L. A. & Johnstone, R. E. 1981. Lizards of Western Australia. I. Skinks. Perth: University of Western Australia Press and Western Australian Museum, 200 pp.
  • 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.
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2013. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 4th ed. New Holland Publishers, 592 pp.
 
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