Lerista

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Lerista
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Sauria
Infraorder: Scincomorpha
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Lerista
Bell, 1833
Species

See text

Lerista is a diverse (~ 80 species) genus of skinks endemic to Australia, commonly known as sliders.[1] The genus is especially notable for the variation in the amount of limb reduction.[2][3] 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 is 33–103 millimetres (1.3–4.1 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. A phylogenetic tree of Lerista, derived from DNA analysis, reveals that limb loss has happened multiple times within this group.[4][5] Limb loss has occurred relatively recently, in the past 3.6 million years or so.

Species

  • Lerista aericeps
  • Lerista allanae
  • Lerista allochira
  • Lerista ameles
  • Lerista apoda
  • Lerista arenicola
  • Lerista axillaris
  • Lerista baynesi
  • Lerista bipes
  • Lerista borealis
  • Lerista bougainvillii
  • Lerista bunglebungle
  • Lerista carpentariae
  • Lerista chalybura
  • Lerista christinae
  • Lerista cinerea
  • Lerista colliveri
  • Lerista connivens
  • Lerista desertorum
  • Lerista distinguenda
  • Lerista dorsalis
  • Lerista edwardsae
  • Lerista elegans
  • Lerista elongata
  • Lerista emmotti
  • Lerista eupoda
  • Lerista flammicauda
  • Lerista fragilis
  • Lerista frosti
  • Lerista gascoynensis
  • Lerista gerrardii
  • Lerista greeri
  • Lerista griffini
  • Lerista haroldi
  • Lerista humphriesi
  • Lerista ingrami
  • Lerista ips
  • Lerista kalumburu
  • Lerista karlschmidti
  • Lerista kendricki
  • Lerista kennedyensis
  • Lerista labialis
  • Lerista lineata
  • Lerista lineopunctulata
  • Lerista macropisthopus
  • Lerista maculosa
  • Lerista microtis
  • Lerista muelleri
  • Lerista neander
  • Lerista nichollsi
  • Lerista onsloviana
  • Lerista orientalis
  • Lerista petersoni
  • Lerista picturata
  • Lerista planiventralis
  • Lerista praefrontalis
  • Lerista praepedita
  • Lerista punctatovittata
  • Lerista puncticauda
  • Lerista quadrivincula
  • Lerista robusta
  • Lerista separanda
  • Lerista simillima
  • Lerista speciosa
  • Lerista stictopleura
  • Lerista storri
  • Lerista stylis
  • Lerista taeniata
  • Lerista talpina
  • Lerista terdigitata
  • Lerista tridactyla
  • Lerista uniduo
  • Lerista varia
  • Lerista vermicularis
  • Lerista viduata
  • Lerista vittata
  • Lerista walkeri
  • Lerista wilkinsi
  • Lerista xanthura
  • Lerista yuna
  • Lerista zonulata

References

  1. Vanderduys, Eric. (7 March 2013). "Australian endangered species: Retro Slider". The Conversation: Latest Ideas and Research. 
  2. Greer, Allen E. (1990). "Limb reduction in the scincid lizard genus Lerista. 2. Variation in the bone complements of the front and rear limbs and the number of postsacral vertebrae". Journal of Herpetology 24 (2): 142–150. JSTOR 1564221. 
  3. Greer, Allen E. (1991). "Limb reduction in squamates: identification of the lineages and discussion of the trends". Journal of Herpetology 25 (2): 166–173. JSTOR 1564644. 
  4. Skinner, Adam, & Michael S. Y. Lee (2009). "Body form evolution in the scincid lizard clade Lerista and the mode of macroevolutionary transitions". Evolutionary Biology 36 (3): 292–300. doi:10.1007/s11692-009-9064-9. 
  5. Skinner, Adam; Michael S. Y. Lee; Mark N. Hutchinson (2008). "Rapid and repeated limb loss in a clade of scincid lizards". BMC Evolutionary Biology 8: 310. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-8-310. PMC 2596130. PMID 19014443. 

Further reading

  • Bell, Thomas. (1833). "Characters of two New Genera of Reptiles". Proc. Zool. Soc. London 1833 (1): 98-99. (Lerista, new genus, p. 99).

External links


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