Eumeces

Eumeces
Eumeces schneideri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Eumeces
Wiegmann, 1834
Synonyms

Novoeumeces Griffith et al., 2000

The genus Eumeces (family Scincidae) comprises four African to Middle-Eastern skink species.

Systematics

Recently two taxonomic revisions have been made regarding the 19th century genus Eumeces. They both resulted in similar results; the genus is paraphyletic and must be "sliced up" into several different genera. Griffith et al. (2000) proposed that the type species for Eumeces, E. pavimentatus, which is considered by many to be a subspecies of Eumeces schneideri, should be changed to Lacerta fasciata, so that the genus name Eumeces would stay with the most species-rich clade. However, this petition has not been verified by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. Schimtz et al. argued that Griffith et al. violated the Code and rejected the proposal on good grounds. Thus only the African species of the Eumeces schneideri group belong to the genus Eumeces.

Within Eumeces the following species are recognized:

Some species that were formerly considered Eumeces have now been assigned to new genera:

Now in Plestiodon:

  • Plestiodon longirostris, Bermuda rock skink
  • Plestiodon lynxe, oak forest skink (Mexico)
  • Plestiodon marginatus, Ryūkyū five-lined skink (Okinawa and Amami Islands)
  • Plestiodon multilineatus
  • Plestiodon multivirgatus, many-lined skink
    • Plestiodon (multivirgatus) gaigeae, variable skink (North America) - sometimes Eumeces (multivirgatus) epipleurotus
  • Plestiodon obsoletus, Great Plains skink
  • Plestiodon ochoterenae
  • Plestiodon okadae, Okada's five-lined skink (Japan)
  • Plestiodon parviauriculatus, northern pygmy skink (Mexico)
  • Plestiodon parvulus, southern pygmy skink (Mexico)
  • Plestiodon popei (Asia)
  • Plestiodon quadrilineatus, four-lined Asian skink
  • Plestiodon septentrionalis, prairie skink - includes Eumeces obtusirostris
  • Plestiodon skiltonianus, western skink
  • Plestiodon stimpsonii, Yaeyama seven-lined skink (Japan)
  • Plestiodon sumichrasti (Mexico)
  • Plestiodon tamdaoensis
  • Plestiodon tetragrammus, four-lined skink
  • Plestiodon tunganus

Now in Eurylepis:

Now in Mesoscincus:

References

Wikispecies has information related to: Eumeces
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eumeces.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.