''Sphenomorphus cranei'', also known
commonly as Crane's skink and Crane's forest skink, is a
species
A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
lizard
Lizard is the common name used for all Squamata, squamate reptiles other than snakes (and to a lesser extent amphisbaenians), encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most Island#Oceanic isla ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Scincidae. The species is
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...
to the
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
.
Etymology
The
specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
, ''cranei'', is in honor of American philanthropist
Cornelius Vanderbilt Crane.
[ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Sphenomorphus cranei'', p. 61).]
Habitat
The preferred natural
habitat
In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
of ''S. cranei'' is
forest
A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
, at altitudes of .
Reproduction
''S. cranei'' is
oviparous
Oviparous animals are animals that reproduce by depositing fertilized zygotes outside the body (i.e., by laying or spawning) in metabolically independent incubation organs known as eggs, which nurture the embryo into moving offsprings kno ...
.
[
]
References
Further reading
* Greer AE, Parker F (1974). "The ''fasciatus'' species group of ''Sphenomorphus'' (Lacertilia: Scincidae): notes on eight previously described species and descriptions of three new species". ''Papua New Guinea Science Society Proceedings'' 25: 31–61. (''Sphenomorphus cranei'', p. 42).
* McCoy M (2006). ''Reptiles of the Solomon Islands''. Sofia, Bulgaria: Pensoft Publishers. 212 pp. .
* Schmidt KP (1932). "Reptiles and Amphibians from the Solomon Islands". ''Field Museum of Natural History, Zoological Series'' 18 (9): 175–190. (''Sphenomorphus cranei'', new species, pp. 182–183).
cranei
Reptiles described in 1932
Taxa named by Karl Patterson Schmidt
Reptiles of the Solomon Islands
{{Sphenomorphinae-stub