''Scincus'' is a genus of

skink Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Ski ...

lizards Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia althou ...

in the family Scincidae. The genus contains four or five species, all of which are typical desert inhabitants, living in sandy and dune-like areas with a hot and dry climate. Species in the genus ''Scincus'' can be found from Arabia to the Sahara desert.

Taxonomy

''Scincus'' is the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

genus of the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Scincinae. As the subfamily Scincinae appears to be

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

and is in need of revision, it is as yet undetermined which skink genera are closely enough related to ''Scincus'' to be retained in the Scincinae. (Austin & Arnold 2006).

Species

The genus ''Scincus'' contains five species which are recognized as being valid."''Scincus'' ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org. *'' Scincus albifasciatus'' *'' Scincus conirostris'' – sandfish skink *'' Scincus hemprichii'' *'' Scincus mitranus'' – eastern sandfish or eastern skink *''

Scincus scincus ''Scincus scincus'', also commonly known as the sandfish skink, common sandfish or common skink, is a species of skink notable for its burrowing or swimming behaviour in sand. It is native to the Sahara Desert and the Arabian Peninsula, but is ...

'' – common sandfish or common skink '' Nota bene'': A

binomial authority In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Scincus''.

Taxonomy

Species

References

Further reading