Lerista xanthura STORR, 1976
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Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
Subspecies | |
Common Names | E: Yellow-tailed Plain Slider |
Synonym | Lerista xanthura STORR 1976: 247 Lerista xanthura — COGGER 1983: 176 Lerista aericeps aericeps STORR 1986 (fide GREER 1990) Lerista xanthura — COGGER 2000: 536 Miculia xanthura — WELLS 2012: 61 Lerista xanthura — WILSON & SWAN 2010 |
Distribution | Australia (New South Wales, Northern Territory, South Australia, Western Australia, see comment) Type locality: 7 km SW of the Pollock Hills, 22°54’ S, 127° 30’ E, W. A. |
Reproduction | oviparous |
Types | Holotype: WAM R40174 |
Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Small slender Lerista with digits 4 + 4, eyelid immovable (Le. a large transparent disc surrounded by an almost complete series of granules), and no stripes or spots. Further distinguishable from L. elegans, L. distinguenda and L. separanda by 5 (rather than 3 or 4) supraciliaries and long tail (bright yellow in life). (Storr 1976) |
Comment | Limb morphology: 4 digits, 4 toes Distribution: There is uncertainty about whether xanthura is restricted to western NT (and eastern populations are L. aericeps) or whether aericeps is a synonym of xanthura. Swan et al. 2017 (Field Guide) follow Greer's assessment, that all eastern populations of "xanthura" are aericeps (G. Shea, pers. comm., 5 March 2021). |
Etymology | From the Greek xanthos (yellow) and oura (tail), in reference to the yellow tail of the species. (G. Shea, pers. comm., 9 Feb 2024) |
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