Lerista

Lerista bougainvilii
Lerista
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Sauria
Infraorder: Scincomorpha
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Lerista
Bell, 1833
Species

See text

Lerista is a diverse (~ 90 species) genus of skinks endemic to Australia, commonly known as sliders.[1] The genus is especially notable for the variation in the amount of limb reduction.[2][3] The variation ranges from short-bodied forms with large legs bearing five toes, to elongate forms completely lacking legs. The body length of the lizards is 33–103 millimetres (1.3–4.1 in). Their locomotion is linked to their body shape. The shorter skinks with prominent limbs travel on the surface; the longer skinks with reduced legs tend to burrow more. A phylogenetic tree of Lerista, derived from DNA analysis, reveals that limb loss has happened multiple times within this group.[4][5] Limb loss has occurred relatively recently, in the past 3.6 million years or so.

Species

The following 94 species are recognized as being valid.[6]

Nota bene: In the following list, a binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Lerista.

  • Lerista aericeps Storr, 1986
  • Lerista allanae (Longman, 1937)
  • Lerista allochira Kendrick, 1989
  • Lerista ameles Greer, 1979
  • Lerista amicorum L.A. Smith & Adams, 2007
  • Lerista apoda Storr, 1976
  • Lerista arenicola Storr, 1971
  • Lerista axillaris Storr, 1991
  • Lerista baynesi Storr, 1971
  • Lerista bipes (Fischer, 1882)
  • Lerista borealis Storr, 1971
  • Lerista bougainvillii (Gray, 1839)
  • Lerista bunglebungle Storr, 1991
  • Lerista carpentariae Greer, 1983
  • Lerista chalybura Storr, 1985
  • Lerista chordae Amey, Kutt & Hutchinson, 2005
  • Lerista christinae Storr, 1979
  • Lerista cinerea Greer, McDonald & Lawrie, 1983
  • Lerista clara L.A. Smith & Adams, 2007
  • Lerista colliveri Couper & Ingram, 1992
  • Lerista connivens Storr, 1971
  • Lerista desertorum (Sternfeld, 1919)
  • Lerista distinguenda (F. Werner, 1910)
  • Lerista dorsalis Storr, 1985
  • Lerista edwardsae Storr, 1982
  • Lerista elegans (Gray, 1845)
  • Lerista elongata Storr, 1990
  • Lerista emmotti Ingram, Couper & Donnellan, 1993
  • Lerista eupoda L.A. Smith, 1996
  • Lerista flammicauda Storr, 1985
  • Lerista fragilis (Günther, 1876)
  • Lerista frosti (F. Zietz, 1920)
  • Lerista gascoynensis Storr, 1986
  • Lerista gerrardii (Gray, 1864)
  • Lerista greeri Storr, 1982
  • Lerista griffini Storr, 1982
  • Lerista haroldi Storr, 1983
  • Lerista humphriesi Storr, 1971
  • Lerista ingrami Storr, 1991
  • Lerista ips Storr, 1980
  • Lerista jacksoni L.A. Smith & Adams, 2007
  • Lerista kalumburu Storr, 1976
  • Lerista karlschmidti Marx & Hosmer, 1959
  • Lerista kendricki Storr, 1991
  • Lerista kennedyensis Kendrick, 1989
  • Lerista kingi L.A. Smith & Adams, 2007
  • Lerista labialis Storr, 1971
  • Lerista lineata Bell, 1833
  • Lerista lineopunctulata (Gray, 1839)
  • Lerista macropisthopus (F. Werner, 1903)
  • Lerista maculosa Storr, 1991
  • Lerista micra L.A. Smith & Adams, 2007
  • Lerista microtis (Gray, 1845)
  • Lerista muelleri (Fischer, 1881)
  • Lerista neander Storr, 1971
  • Lerista nevinae L.A. Smith & Adams, 2007
  • Lerista nichollsi (Loveridge, 1933)
  • Lerista occulta L.A. Smith & Adams, 2007
  • Lerista onsloviana Storr, 1984
  • Lerista orientalis (De Vis, 1889)
  • Lerista petersoni Storr, 1976
  • Lerista picturata (D. Fry, 1914)
  • Lerista planiventralis (Lucas & C. Frost, 1902)
  • Lerista praefrontalis Greer, 1986
  • Lerista praepedita (Boulenger, 1887)
  • Lerista punctatovittata (Günther, 1867)
  • Lerista puncticauda Storr, 1991
  • Lerista quadrivincula Shea, 1991
  • Lerista rhodonoides (Lucas & C. Frost, 1896)
  • Lerista robusta Storr, 1990
  • Lerista rochfordensis Amey & Couper, 2009
  • Lerista rolfei L.A. Smith & Adams, 2007
  • Lerista separanda Storr, 1976
  • Lerista simillima Storr, 1984
  • Lerista speciosa Storr, 1990
  • Lerista stictopleura Storr, 1985
  • Lerista storri Greer, McDonald & Lawrie, 1983
  • Lerista stylis (F. Mitchell, 1955)
  • Lerista taeniata Storr, 86
  • Lerista talpina Storr, 91
  • Lerista terdigitata (Parker, 1926)
  • Lerista tridactyla Storr, 1990
  • Lerista uniduo Storr, 1984
  • Lerista varia Storr, 1986
  • Lerista verhmens L.A. Smith & Adams, 2007
  • Lerista vermicularis Storr, 1982
  • Lerista viduata Storr, 1991
  • Lerista vittata Greer, McDonald & Lawrie, 1983
  • Lerista walkeri (Boulenger, 1891)
  • Lerista wilkinsi (Parker, 1926)
  • Lerista xanthura Storr, 1976
  • Lerista yuna Storr, 1991
  • Lerista zietzi Wells & Wellington, 1985
  • Lerista zonulata Storr, 1991

References

  1. Vanderduys, Eric. (7 March 2013). "Australian endangered species: Retro Slider". The Conversation: Latest Ideas and Research.
  2. Greer, Allen E. (1990). "Limb reduction in the scincid lizard genus Lerista. 2. Variation in the bone complements of the front and rear limbs and the number of postsacral vertebrae". Journal of Herpetology. 24 (2): 142–150. JSTOR 1564221.
  3. Greer, Allen E. (1991). "Limb reduction in squamates: identification of the lineages and discussion of the trends". Journal of Herpetology. 25 (2): 166–173. JSTOR 1564644.
  4. Skinner, Adam, & Michael S. Y. Lee (2009). "Body form evolution in the scincid lizard clade Lerista and the mode of macroevolutionary transitions". Evolutionary Biology. 36 (3): 292–300. doi:10.1007/s11692-009-9064-9.
  5. Skinner, Adam; Michael S. Y. Lee; Mark N. Hutchinson (2008). "Rapid and repeated limb loss in a clade of scincid lizards". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 8: 310. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-8-310. PMC 2596130Freely accessible. PMID 19014443.
  6. "Lerista ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading


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