Eremiascincus richardsonii (GRAY, 1845)
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Eremiascincus richardsonii
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | Broad-banded Sand-swimmer, Broad Banded Sand Swimmer, Richardson’s Skink; monotropis: Keeled Skink |
| Synonym | Hinulia richardsonii GRAY 1845: 271 Lygosoma monotropis BOULENGER 1887: 237 Hinulia ambigua DE VIS 1888: 817 Lygosoma (Sphenomorphus) monotropis — SMITH 1937: 220 Lygosoma (Sphenomorphus) richardsoni — SMITH 1937: 220 Lygosoma (Sphenomorphus) richardsonii — GLAUERT 1960 Lygosoma (Sphenomorphus) monotropis — GLAUERT 1960 Sphenomorphus richardsoni — PIANKA 1969 Sphenomorphus richardsoni — STORR 1974 Eremiascincus richardsonii — GREER 1979 Eremiascincus richardsonii — COGGER 2000: 478 Eremiascincus richardsonii — WILSON & SWAN 2010 |
| Distribution | Australia (New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia) Type locality: Houtman's Abrolhos, W. A. |
| Reproduction | oviparous (Mecke et al. 2016) |
| Types | Holotype: BMNH 1946.8.3.14 Syntypes: BMNH 1946.8.26.12-13, BMNH 1946.8.5.45, from Champion Bay, W. A. and W. A. [Lygosoma monotropis] Holotype: QM J242, from Charleville, Qld. [Hinulia ambigua] |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus): The expanded Eremiascincus comprises small to medium-sized (SVL 44–125 mm) lygosomine skinks, which can be slender to robust; diurnal, crepuscular or nocturnal; terrestrial, fossorial or litter dwelling. No synapomorphy is known for this group, but it can be diagnosed by the following combination of characters: parietal shields in contact behind the interparietal; prefrontals large, in contact or narrowly separated; supranasals absent and nasals undivided; frontoparietals paired; frontal much longer than prefrontals; SupraLab 6–8; 1 or 2 InfraLab in contact with postmental scale; lower eyelid movable, scaly; small or missing auricular granules (when present usually 4–5); SupCil 6–10; supraoculars 4; 4TLam 15–30; usually more than 24 MBSR; dorsal and caudal scales smooth or keeled, head scales smooth; limbs well developed, meeting or overlapping when adpressed (exceptions are E. pardalis from the woodlands and monsoon forests of Queensland and E. butlerorum from Sumba Island, Indonesia); fingers and toes 5; tail usually much longer than SVL; ear opening prominent; colour pattern variable, composed of either distinct crossbands, a reticulum, numerous spots or dashes and can include a dark lateral zone. All species are oviparous, but E. pardalis has been reported as egg laying (Greer & Parker 1974) and live-bearing (Rankin 1978). Differentiation of Eremiascincus from Glaphyromorphus is possible with the exception of a few problematic species. Members of Eremiascincus usually share a higher number of MBSR than most Glaphyromorphus: Eremiascincus (> 24 MBSR) is separated from the elongated, slender G. cracens (20–22 MBSR), G. crassicaudis (20–22 MBSR), G. darwiniensis (20–22 MBSR), G. mjobergi (22 MBSR) and G. punctulatus (18–20 MBSR). Furthermore, these species have very short, widely separated limbs when adpressed, a condition rare among members of Eremiascincus. The exceptions are G. fuscicaudis and G. nigricaudis and both taxa may represent a basal lineage within Glaphyromorphus (Greer 1979c, 1989). The presence of an ectopterygoid process, a small strut of bone in the secondary palate (Greer 1979a, 1989) might be of taxonomic importance as well, but seems to be absent in some populations of E. fasciolatus and E. richardsonii (Greer 1979a). However, this character is not present in any member of Glaphyromorphus (from Mecke et al. 2009 who also has the references cited). |
| Comment | Synonymy after COGGER 1983. Type Species: Hinulia richardsonii GRAY 1845 is the type species of the genus Eremiascincus GREER 1979. Phylogenetics: see Singhal et al. 2017 and 2018 for a phylogeny of Australian sphenomorphine skinks. Habitat: hard soils across the Pilbara, often found around buildings and wells. Limb morphology: 5 digits, 5 toes (Singhal et al. 2018, Brandley et al 2008) Morphology: Hutchinson et al. 2021 present a table of morphological character states across 20 Australian sphenomorphine skinks, including this genus. |
| Etymology | Named for Sir John Richardson (5 November 1787–1865 June 5), naturalist and naval surgeon, curator of the Haslar Museum, through whose auspices the type specimen, collected on the Beagle expedition to Australia of 1837-1843 reached the British Museum. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) |
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