Spondylurus

Neotropical skinks
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia (paraphyletic)
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Spondylurus
Fitzinger, 1826

The genus Spondylurus – vernacularly known as the Antillean four-lined skinks – is a Neotropical skink taxon including many species that are classified by four (occasionally three to six) dark dorsolateral stripes. This characteristic is known to fade in older individuals and colors when preserved shift from tans and browns to greens and blues, often causing confusion as to the true color.[1] Many of these species are extinct or endangered resulting from invasive predators such as the mongoose.[2]

This genus is distributed throughout the West Indies including the Caicos Islands, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and the Lesser Antilles.[3]

Species list

  • Spondylurus anegadae
  • Spondylurus caicosae
  • Spondylurus culebrae
  • Spondylurus fulgidus
  • Spondylurus haitiae
  • Spondylurus lineolatus
  • Spondylurus macleani
  • Spondylurus magnacruzae
  • Spondylurus martinae
  • Spondylurus monae
  • Spondylurus monitae
  • Spondylurus nitidus
  • Spondylurus powelli
  • Spondylurus semitaeniatus
  • Spondylurus sloanii
  • Spondylurus spilonotus
  • Spondylurus turksae

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/26/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.