Saiphos equalis

Three-toed skink
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Saiphos
Gray, 1831
Species: S. equalis
Binomial name
Saiphos equalis
(Gray, 1825)
Distribution of the Yellow-bellied three-toed Skink
Synonyms[1][2][3][4]
  • Anguis lacertina Gray, 1831
  • Lygosoma aequale Longman, 1915
  • Saiphos aequalis Greer et al. 2006
  • Seps equalis Gray, 1825
  • Siaphos aequalis (Gray, 1839)
  • Saiphos samueli Wells & Wellington, 1985

Saiphos equalis, commonly known as the yellow-bellied three-toed skink or simply three-toed skink, is a species of burrowing skink found in eastern Australia. It is the only species classified under the genus Saiphos.

The lizard has attracted scientific attention due to its dual reproduction habits of producing young via eggs in coastal populations, or via live young in colder mountain regions.[5]

Description

Saiphos equalis grows to a length of 18 cm (7.1 in) including the tail. It has a brown back and an orange belly. The skink is active at night, and feeds on insects. Along the coastal lowlands of Australia, the skink has been observed laying eggs and giving birth to live young for reproduction. Individuals of the species in the lowlands lay eggs (oviparous), while its neighbors to the north in the mountains are almost exclusively giving birth to live young (viviparous).[5][6]

Taxonomy and nomenclature

Saiphos equalis was originally described by the British zoologist John Edward Gray in 1825 as Seps equalis.[7] In 1831, Gray reclassified it under a genus he separately established, Saiphos.[1]

Saiphos equalis is now considered to be the only member of the genus Saiphos. It belongs to the subfamily Lygosominae of the skink family Scincidae.[8] Phylogenetic analysis in 2003 showed that the closest sister taxa of Saiphos equalis are Coeranoscincus reticulatus and members of the genus Ophioscincus.[9] They are part of the Australian Sphenomorphus group, a large monophyletic clade within Lygosominae.[10]

Distribution and habitat

Saiphos equalis are common in New South Wales and Queensland of eastern Australia.[11]

Reproductive Mode

Saiphos equalis includes populations of three main reproductive modes: oviparous with long (15 days) incubation periods, viviparious with no incubation period (0 days), and intermediate populations that are oviparous with short (~5 days) incubation periods. No populations of this skink exhibit normal scincid oviparity behavior with greater than 30 day incubation periods, which could further indicate this skink is truly making the transition to exclusively viviparity.[12]

In a recent study of coastal Saiphos equalis populations, mitochondrial nucleotide sequences (ND2 and cytochrome b) were used to organize the relationships among the various populations. According to Smith et al. the analysis suggests that the long incubation period oviparous lineage is the sister group to the other short-period oviparous and viviparous populations. These clades are consistent and correspond to variation in reproductive modes as well as geographic location according to latitude and altitude.[13]

Lizards from high elevation sites (greater than 1,000 m (3,300 ft)) in north-eastern New South Wales are viviparous, while low-elevation populations from northern and southern in New South Wales exhibit short-period oviparity, an intermediate between viviparity and typical oviparious behaviors.[14] The viviparous populations give birth to fully developed offspring in transparent membranes, while the short-day oviparous populations give birth to partly shelled eggs that contain mostly developed embryos. The embryo continues to develop in the egg prior to hatching. In the northernmost coastal region of New South Wales, the lizards have relatively long incubation periods (approximately 15 days), and the eggshells are thicker.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 John Edward Gray (1831). "A synopsis of the species of Class Reptilia". In Edward Griffith & Edward Pidgeon. The animal kingdom arranged in conformity with its organisation by the Baron Cuvier with additional descriptions of all the species hither named, and of many before noticed. Volume IX: The Class Reptilia. Whittaker, Treacher, and Co., London. p. 72.
  2. ↑ Karl P. Schmidt (1943). "Amphibians and Reptiles from the Sudan" (PDF). Zoological Series of Field Museum of Natural History 24 (29): 331–338.
  3. ↑ Peter Uetz, Jakob Hallermann, & Jiri Hosek. "Saiphos equalis (Gray, 1825)". The Reptile Database.
  4. ↑ Glenn M. Shea & Ross A. Sadlier (1999). "A Catalogue of the Non-fossil Amphibian and Reptile Type Specimens in the Collection of the Australian Museum: Types Currently, Previously and Purportedly Present" (PDF). Technical Reports of the Australian Museum (Australian Museum) (15): 1–91. ISSN 1031-8062.
  5. 1 2 Marshall,M., Live birth, evolving before our eyes, New Scientist, 25 August 2010.
  6. ↑ Linville, B. J., J. R. Stewart, T. W. Ecay, J. F. Herbert, S. L. Parker, and M. B. Thompson. 2010. Placental calcium provision in a lizard with prolonged oviductal egg retention. Journal of Comparative Physiology - Biochemical Systemic and Environmental Physiology 180:221-227.
  7. ↑ John Edward Gray (1825). "A synopsis of the genera of reptiles and Amphibia, with a description of some new species". Annals of Philosophy (British Museum) 10: 193–217.
  8. ↑ George R. Zug, Laurie J. Vitt, & Janalee P. Caldwell (2001). Herpetology: an Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles. Academic Press. p. 494. ISBN 978-0-12-782622-6.
  9. ↑ Tod W.Reeder (2003). "A phylogeny of the Australian Sphenomorphus group (Scincidae: Squamata) and the phylogenetic placement of the crocodile skinks (Tribolonotus): Bayesian approaches to assessing congruence and obtaining confidence in maximum likelihood inferred relationships" (PDF). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (Elsevier Science) 27 (2003): 384–397. doi:10.1016/S1055-7903(02)00448-7. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 12742744.
  10. ↑ Adam Skinner (2007). Phylogeny and Evolution of Lerista (Lygosominae, Scincidae, Squamata) (PDF) (PhD thesis). Department of Environmental Biology, The University of Adelaide.
  11. ↑ Queensland CRA/RFA Steering Committee (1997). "Systematic Vertebrate Fauna Survey Project: Stage IIB - Assessment of Habitat Quality for Priority Species in Southeast Queensland Bioregion" (PDF). Department of Natural Resources, Department of Environment, and Environment Australia, Queensland Government, Government of Australia: 71–72.
  12. ↑ deFraipont, M., J. Clobert, and R. Barbault. 1996. The evolution of oviparity with egg guarding and viviparity in lizards and snakes: A phylogenetic analysis. Evolution 50:391-400.
  13. ↑ Smith, S. A., C. C. Austin, and R. Shine. 2001. A phylogenetic analysis of variation in reproductive mode within an Australian lizard (Saiphos equalis, Scincidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 74:131-139
  14. ↑ Smith, G. R., R. E. Ballinger, and J. D. Congdon. 1993. Thermal Ecology of the High-Altitude Bunch Grass Lizard, Sceloporus-Scalaris. Canadian Journal of Zoology-Revue Canadienne De Zoologie 71:2152-2155.
  15. ↑ Reeder, T. W. 2003. A phylogeny of the Australian Sphenomorphus group (Scincidae : Squamata) and the phylogenetic placement of the crocodile skinks (Tribolonotus): Bayesian approaches to assessing congruence and obtaining confidence in maximum likelihood inferred relationships. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 27:384-397.
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