Ateuchosaurus
Template:Short description Template:Italic title Template:Automatic taxobox
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.
TaxonomyEdit
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<ref name="AustinArnold2006">Template:Cite journal</ref> or to lygosomine skinks,<ref name="Hedges2014">Template:Cite journal</ref> and it is therefore sometimes considered to represent a distinct family or subfamily.
SpeciesEdit
The following species are recognized as being valid.<ref>Template:EMBL genus www.reptile-database.org.</ref>
- Ateuchosaurus chinensis Template:Small – Chinese short-limbed skink, Chinese ateuchosaurus
- Ateuchosaurus okinavensis Template:Small – Ryukyu short-legged skink
- Ateuchosaurus pellopleurus Template:Small – Ryukyu short-legged skink
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Ateuchosaurus.
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
- 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).