| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | |
| Synonym | Lygosoma tricolor BAVAY 1869: 17
Leiolopisma tricolor — GREER 1974
Leiolopisma tricolor — ZUG 1985
Marmorosphax tricolor — SADLIER 1987: 32
Marmorosphax tricolor — ADLER, AUSTIN & DUDLEY 1995
Marmorosphax tricolor — SADLIER et al. 2006 |
| Distribution | New Caledonia
Type locality: “Nouvelle-Calédonie” (by implication). Neotype locality: summit of Mt Aoupinie, New Caledonia.
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| Reproduction | ovovivparous |
| Types | Neotype: AMS R77750, designated by SADLIER 1987. Original Holotype, MNHN 5397, New Caledonia, presented M. Bavay, 30.x.1879; lost fide Brygoo (1985). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus Marmorosphax): The following combination of characters will distinguish Marmorosphax from all other genera in the Eugongylus group of skinks as defined by Greer (1979): frontoparietals fused; supranasal scale or postnasal suture absent; anterior loreal present as a semilunar scale failing to contact upper labials; subocular scale row complete; lower eyelid with an obvious, centrally located semi-transparent disc; ear lobules barely distinguishable from blunt conical scales around upper, lower, and posterior edges of ear opening; enlarged pairs of chinshields two, third pair of chinshields divided obliquely such that they are separated by five scales; premaxillary teeth 13; live-bearing mode of reproduction confirmed in M. tricolor and M. montana. |
| Comment | Common and fairly widespread.
Type Species: Lygosoma tricolor BAVAY 1869 is the type species of the genus Marmorosphax SADLIER 1986. |
| Etymology | The genus Marmorosphax combines the Greek for marbled (marmoros) and throat (sphax) to describe the distinctive dark and light pattern present on the throat of both species in the genus. |
| References |
- Adler,G.H.; Austin,C.C. & Dudley,R. 1995. Dispersal and speciation of skinks among archipelagos in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Evolutionary Ecology 9: 529-541 - get paper here
- Bauer, A. M. & SADLIER, R. A. 2000. The herpetofauna of New Caledonia. Contributions to Herpetology, 17; Society for Study Amphibians and Reptiles, Ithaca, New York.
- Bauer, A.M. & Sadlier,R.A. 1993. Systematics, biogeography and conservation of the lizards of New Caledonia. Biodiv. Lett. 1: 107-122 - get paper here
- Bauer, Aaron M.;Vindum, Jens V. 1990. A checklist and key to the herpetofauna of New Caledonia, with remarks on biogeography. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 47 (2): 17-45 - get paper here
- Bavay,A. 1869. Catalogue des Reptiles de las Nouvelle - Caledonie et description d'especes nouvelles. Memoires Societe Linniene de Normandie 15: 1-37
- DUVAL, Thomas; Stéphane ASTRONGATT & Mickaël SANCHEZ 2019. Inventaire herpétologique de la forêt de Povila (province Nord, Nouvelle-Calédonie), avec une comparaison des protocoles de détection. Bull. Soc. Herp. Fr. 171: 13-36
- Greer, A. E. 1979. A phylogenetic subdivision of Australian skinks. Rec. Austral. Mus. 32: 339-371 - get paper here
- Greer, A.E. 1974. The generic relationships of the scincid lizard genus Leiolopisma and its relatives. Australian Journal of Zoology 31: 1-67. - get paper here
- Sadlier R A 1987. A review of the scincid lizards of New Caledonia. Rec. Austral. Mus. 39(1) 1987: 1-66 [1986] - get paper here
- Sadlier R. A., Smith, S.A.; Bauer A. M. & Whitaker A. H. 2009. Three new species of skink in the genus Marmorosphax Sadlier (Squamata: Scincidae) from New Caledonia. in Grandcolas, P. (ed.), Zoologia Neocaledonica 7. Biodiversity studies in New Caledonia. Mémoires du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle 198: 373-390
- Sadlier, R. A. & A. M. BAUER 2000. The scincid genus Marmorosphax (Reptilia: Scincidae) from New Caledonia in the Southwest Pacific: description of a new species restricted to high-altitude forest in Province Sud. Pacific Science 54: 56-62
- Sadlier, R.A.; Smith, S.A.; Bauer, A.M. 2006. A new genus for the New Caledonian scincid lizard Lygosoma euryotis Werner, 1909, and the description of a new species. Rec. Austral. Mus. 58 (1):19-28. - get paper here
- Zug,G. R. 1985. A new skink (Reptilia: Sauria: Leiolopisma) from Fiji. Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 98 (1): 221-231 - get paper here
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