Scincus

Scincus
Scincus scincus, common skink or common sandfish
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Scincidae
Subfamily:	Scincinae
Genus:	Scincus Laurenti, 1768
Species
Four, see text.

Scincus is a genus of skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae. The genus contains four species, all of which are typical desert inhabitants, living in sandy and dune-like areas with a hot and dry climate. Species in the genus Scincus can be found from Arabia to the Sahara desert.

Taxonomy

Scincus is the type genus of the subfamily Scincinae. As the subfamily Scincinae appears to be paraphyletic and is in need of revision, it is as yet undetermined which skink genera are closely enough related to Scincus to be retained in the Scincinae. (Austin & Arnold 2006).

Species

The genus Scincus contains four species which are recognized as being valid.

• Scincus albifasciatus Boulenger, 1890
• Scincus hemprichii Wiegmann, 1837
• Scincus mitranus Anderson, 1871 – eastern sandfish or eastern skink
• Scincus scincus (Linnaeus, 1758) – common sandfish or common skink

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Scincus.

Further reading

• Austin, J.J. & Arnold, E.N. (2006). "Using ancient and recent DNA to explore relationships of extinct and endangered Leiolopisma skinks (Reptilia: Scincidae) in the Mascarene islands". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39 (2): 503–511. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.12.011 (HTML abstract).