| Lerista | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Scincidae |
| Genus: | Lerista |
| Species | |
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See text. |
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Lerista is a diverse (~80 species) genus of skink endemic to Australia which is especially notable for the variation in the amount of limb reduction (Greer 1990, 1991). The variation ranges from short-bodied forms with large legs bearing five toes, to elongate forms completely lacking legs. The body length of the lizards ranges from 33 millimetres (1.3 in) to 103 millimetres (4.1 in). Their locomotion is linked to their body shape. The shorter skinks with prominent limbs travel on the surface; the longer skinks with reduced legs tend to burrow more. An evolutionary tree of Lerista, derived from DNA analysis (Skinner et al. 2008; Skinner and Lee 2009), reveals limb loss has happened multiple times within this group.
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Greer, A. E., 1990. Limb reduction in the lizard genus Lerista. 2. Variation in the bone complements of the front and rear limbs and the number of postsacral vertebrae. J. Herpetol. 24, 142-150.
Greer, A. E., 1991. Limb reduction in squamates: identification of the lineages and discussion of the trends. J. Herpetol. 25, 166-173.
Skinner, A., Lee, M.S.Y. 2009. Body form evolution in the scincid lizard clade Lerista and the mode of macroevolutionary transitions. Evolutionary Biology 36: 292-300.
Skinner, A., Lee, M. S. Y., Hutchinson, M. N., 2008. Rapid and repeated limb loss in a clade of scincid lizards. BMC Evol. Biol. Volume 8, Article 310