Praeteropus gowi (GREER & COGGER, 1985)
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Praeteropus gowi
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Speckled Worm-skink |
| Synonym | Anomalopus (Vermiseps) gowi GREER & COGGER 1985: 25 Vermiseps gowi — WELLS & WELLINGTON 1988: 11 Anomalopus gowi — COGGER 2000: 384 Anomalopus gowi — WILSON & SWAN 2010 Praeteropus gowi — HUTCHINSON et al. 2021 |
| Distribution | Australia (Queensland) Type locality: 2.9 km NNE junction of Gulf and Kennedy Hwys via Kennedy Hwy, Qld |
| Reproduction | oviparous |
| Types | Holotype: QM J42615 (previously AMS (AM) R63128), collected by A. Greer, P. Webber, E. Cameron & R. Sadlier. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis (genus). Body serpentiform; limbless. Eyelids moveable, scaly; ear opening absent, position of ear not obvious or indicated by shallow depression with a few weakly ossified scales (Fig. 3D in Hutchinson et al. 2021). Head shields (Fig. 4D). Nasals in medial contact; prefrontals usually absent (present in P. gowi); loreals one; supraoculars two or three; supraciliaries three, the first two separated from the third by the second or second and third supraoculars projecting laterally into the supraciliary row; parietal margined laterally and posteriorly by a single upper secondary temporal (usually divided in P. gowi) in contact with the single enlarged nuchal; subocular scale row much reduced; postmental contacting two infralabials on each side; frontoparietals usually separated (narrow medial contact in P. brevicollis); postmental contacting two infralabials on each side. Parietal and pulmonary peritoneum dark pigmented; left and right oviducts present (Greer and Cogger, 1985; parietal pigmentation not confirmed in Praeteropus auxilliger sp. nov. or Praeteropus monachus sp. nov.). Cranial osteology (Figs 5D–E, 6F–G); premaxillae mostly fused in adults; premaxillary teeth 5–6; all teeth upright, cylindrical, relatively stout and tapering rapidly to apical points; prefrontal contacts nasal, separating maxilla from frontal (P. gowi and P. auxilliger sp. nov.), or maxilla contacts frontal (P. brevicollis and P. monachus sp. nov.); parietal foramen often thinly closed on dorsal surface; upper temporal fenestra open; posttemporal fenestrae reduced but open; descending processes of the frontals anteroposteriorly narrow, retroflexed, terminating in contact with the apices of the orbitonasal flanges of the prefrontals; enlarged orbitosphenoids in anteromedial contact, linked to prefrontals; ventral process of the jugals elongate, anterior termination adjacent to the prefrontals; palatal rami of the pterygoids terminating posteromedially in short triangular posterior projections positioned anteriorly to the basipterygoid processes; stapes directed anterolaterally, extending to or beyond the medial margin of the quadrate column; LARST absent; angular distinct. Postcranial osteology (Figs 7B, 8D–E, 9E–F); presacral vertebrae 46–57 (Greer, 1989); seven (P. brevicollis and P. monachus sp. nov.) or eight (P. gowi and P. auxilliger sp. nov.) cervical vertebrae; sacral vertebrae moveable and sacral ribs not fused distally; interclavicle reduced, cruciform or rod shaped; one pair of sternal ribs; inscriptional ribs connected via reduced medial elements that mostly lack posterolateral processes (leaf or spearpoint shaped); second and third cervical intercentra fused into a single crest; pelvis reduced to a pair of medially separated, anteroventrally oriented rods with inwardly inflected pubic regions (Hutchinson et al. 2021). Additional details (872 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
| Comment | Phylogenetics: Singhal et al. 2018 found considerable paraphyly among A. gowi, brevicollis, and other members of Anomalopus. However, they did not propose any taxonomic implications. For a phylogeny of the genera Anomalopus, Praeteropus, and Sepsiscus see Hutchinson et al. 2021. Limb morphology: 0 digits, 0 toes (Limbless, Singhal et al. 2018, Cogger 2014) Type species: Anomalopus (Vermiseps) gowi GREER & COGGER 1985 is the type species of the genus Praeteropus HUTCHINSON et al. 2021 |
| Etymology | Named after Graeme Francis Gow (1940-2005), Australian herpetologist and Curator of Reptiles, Taronga Zoo, Sydney. He died from cancer but was also bitten several times by taipans and a death adder. The genus was named after Latin praeteritus, bygone, omitted, and -pus, from the Latin -pes, foot, alluding to the leglessness of the included species. |
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