Ateuchosaurus
Ateuchosaurus is a genus of skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae. The genus contains only two species which are indigenous to East Asia and Southeast Asia.
| Ateuchosaurus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Ateuchosaurus chinensis | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Scincidae |
| Subfamily: | Scincinae |
| Genus: | Ateuchosaurus Gray, 1845 |
| Species | |
|
Three, see text. | |
Taxonomy
The genus Ateuchosaurus is usually placed in the subfamily Scincinae. This group seems to be paraphyletic however, and the present genus is apparently not closely related to most or all of them. Different molecular studies find Ateuchosarus to instead to be more closely related either to Acontias[1] or to lygosomine skinks,[2] and it is therefore sometimes considered to represent a distinct family or subfamily.
Species
The following species are recognized as being valid.[3]
- Ateuchosaurus chinensis Gray, 1845 – Chinese short-limbed skink, Chinese ateuchosaurus
- Ateuchosaurus okinavensis (Thompson, J.C. 1912) – Ryukyu short-legged skink
- Ateuchosaurus pellopleurus (Hallowell, 1861) – Ryukyu short-legged skink
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Ateuchosaurus.
References
- 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. ISSN 1055-7903. PMID 16473026.
- Hedges, S. Blair (2014). "The high-level classification of skinks (Reptilia, Squamata, Scincomorpha)". Zootaxa. 3765 (4): 317–38. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3765.4.2. ISSN 1175-5334. PMID 24870904.
- Genus Ateuchosaurus at The Reptile Database www.reptile-database.org.
Further reading
- Gray, John Edward (1845). Catalogue of the Specimens of Lizards in the Collection of the British Museum. London: Trustees of the British Museum. (Edward Newman, printer). xxviii + 289 pp. (Ateuchosaurus, new genus, p. 107; A. chinensis, new species, p. 107).
- Hallowell, Edward (1861). "Report upon the Reptilia of the North Pacific Exploring Expedition, under command of Capt. John Rogers, U. S. N.". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 12: 480–510. (Lygosaurus pellopleurus, new species, pp. 496–497).