You are here » home › advanced search › Cyclodomorphus branchialis

Cyclodomorphus branchialis (GÜNTHER, 1867)

iNaturalist logo

Can you confirm these amateur observations of Cyclodomorphus branchialis?

Add your own observation of
Cyclodomorphus branchialis »

Find more photos by Google images search: Google images

Higher TaxaScincidae, Egerniinae (Tiliquini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Common Slender Bluetongue, Gunther's Skink 
SynonymHinulia branchialis GÜNTHER 1867: 47
Lygosoma gastrostigma BOULENGER 1898: 918
Lygosoma (Homolepida) woodjonesii PROCTER 1923
Tiliqua branchiale — SMITH 1937: 233
Tiliqua wood-jonesii — SMITH 1937: 233
Tiliqua gastrostigma — SMITH 1937: 233
Tiliqua gastrostigma — GLAUERT 1960: 70
Tiliqua gastrostigma — GLAUERT 1960: 70
Tiliqua branchialis — FORD 1963
Omolepida branchialis — STORR 1976
Tiliqua branchialis — COGGER 1983: 189
Cyclodomorphus branchialis — SHEA & MILLER 1995
Cyclodomorphus branchialis — COGGER 2000: 452
Cyclodomorphus branchialis — WILSON & SWAN 2010 
DistributionAustralia (Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia; Tasmania [fide SMITH 1937])

Type locality: Champion Bay, W. A.  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesLectotype: BMNH 1946.8.19.48. Designation by Wells & Wellington (1985).
Holotype: BMNH 1946.8.9.87, from Sherlock River, Nickol Bay, W. A. [Lygosoma gastrostigma]
Syntypes: BMNH 1946.8.17.97-99 (3 adults and 2 embryos), from St. Francis Is., S. A. [Lygosoma (Homolepida) woodjonesii] 
DiagnosisDescription: “This small short-limbed species is very attenuated, the distance from the tip of the snout to the fore limb being contained from 2 to to 2.5 in the distance from the axilla to the groin. Snout short, lower eyelid scaly, 5th upper labial under the centre of the eye, 6th largest. Ear opening small with a single lobule. Three pairs of enlarged nuchals. Scales round the body smooth, the two vertebral scries the largest, and the laterals smallest. Limbs short, the fore limb shorter than the head and nearly 5 times in the distance between the axilla and the groin; hind limbs slightly longer. Tail shorter than the head and body.

Coloration: The colour varies. Specimens from Newmarracarra near Gerald ton are pale brown above with a black spot or short stripe on each scale and series of black spots forming lines from the side of the head to the chin and throat, together with 3 large black spots on each side of the neck.” (Glauert 1960) 
CommentSynonymy partly after COGGER 1983. Lygosoma melanops STIRLING & ZIETZ 1893 and Lygosoma (Homolepida) branchiale elongatum WERNER 1910 have been synonymized with Cyclodomorphus branchialis by COGGER 1983 (who used the name Tiliqua branchialis). 
References
  • Boulenger, G.A. 1898. Third report on additions to the lizard collection in the Natural History Museum. Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1898: 912-923. - 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
  • Ford, J. 1963. The Reptilian Fauna of the Islands between Dongara and Lancelin, Western Australia. Western Australian Naturalist 8 (6): 135-142 - get paper here
  • Glauert, L. 1960. Herpetological miscellanea. XII. The family Scincidae in Western Australia. Pt. 1. The genera Tiliqua, Trachysaurus and Egernia. Western Australian Naturalist 7 (3): 67-77 - get paper here
  • Günther, A. 1867. Additions to the knowledge of Australian reptiles and fishes. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (3) 20: 45-57 - get paper here
  • Mitchell, F. J. 1950. The scincid genera Egernia and Tiliqua (Lacertilia). Rec. South Austral. Mus. 9: 275-308 - get paper here
  • Procter, J. B. 1923. The flora and fauna of Nuyts Archipelago and the Investigator group. 5. The lizards. Trans. R. Soc. S. Aust. 47: 79-81
  • Shea G M. & Miller B. 1995. A taxonomic revision of the Cyclodomorphus branchialis species group (Squamata: Scincidae). Rec. Austral. Mus. 47 (3): 265-325. - get paper here
  • Shea, Glenn M.;Wells, R. 1984. New records of a skink and a gecko from western New South Wales. Herpetofauna (Sydney) 15 (1-2): 1-4
  • Smith, M.A. 1937. A review of the genus Lygosoma (Scincidae: Reptilia) and its allies. Records of the Indian Museum 39 (3): 213-234
  • Storr, G. M. 1976. The genus Omolepida (Lacertilia, Scincidae) in Western Australia. Rec. West. Aust. Mus. 4: 163-170 - get paper here
  • Storr, G. M.; L. A. Smith, and R. E. Johnstone 1999. Lizards of Western Australia. I. Skinks. Revised Edition. Western Australian Museum
  • Warburg, M. R. 1965. Studies on the environmental physiology of some Australian lizards from sand and semiarid habitats. Australian Journal of Zoology 13: 563-575 - get paper here
  • Wilson, S. & Swan, G. 2010. A complete guide to reptiles of Australia, 3rd ed. Chatswood: New Holland, 558 pp.
 
External links  
Is it interesting? Share with others:


Please submit feedback about this entry to the curator