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 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). |
| 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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