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''Euprepis'' is an obsolete
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
of
skink Skinks are a type of lizard belonging to the family (biology), family Scincidae, a family in the Taxonomic rank, infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one o ...
s in the subfamily
Lygosominae Lygosominae is the largest subfamily of skinks in the family Scincidae. The subfamily can be divided into a number of genus groups. If the rarely used taxonomic rank of infrafamily is employed, the genus groups would be designated as such, but s ...
. It was named by Wagler in 1830 and frequently used in subsequent years, often misspelled as ''Euprepes'', a misspelling introduced by Wiegmann in 1834. It was then subsumed under the large skink genus ''
Mabuya ''Mabuya'' is a genus of long-tailed skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae. The genus is restricted to species from various Caribbean islands. Out of 26 recognized species, six species are only found in Caribbean islands. Species in the genus ...
'', until Mausfeld and others resurrected it for a group of mainly African skinks they split from ''Mabuya''. The following year, Bauer argued that this assignment had been in error and that this group should be called ''
Trachylepis ''Trachylepis'' is a skink genus in the subfamily Mabuyinae found mainly in Africa. Its members were formerly included in the " wastebin taxon" '' Mabuya'', and for some time in '' Euprepis''. As defined today, ''Trachylepis'' contains the clad ...
'' instead. ''Euprepis'' itself is a
junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...
of ''Mabuya''.Bauer, 2003, p. 5


Type species

The identity of the
type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
, the
name-bearing type Under the ''International Code of Zoological Nomenclature'' (''Code''), the name-bearing type or onomatophore is the biological type that determines the application of a name. Each animal taxon regulated by the ''Code'' at least potentially has a na ...
which determines the application of a generic name, of ''Euprepis'' has been in some recent dispute. In 1830, Wagler included several species in ''Euprepis'': '' Lacerta punctata'' Linnaeus, 1758 (=''
Lygosoma punctatum ''Lygosoma'' is a genus of lizards, commonly known as supple skinks or writhing skinks, which are members of the family Scincidae. ''Lygosoma'' is the type genus of the subfamily Lygosominae. The common name, writhing skinks, refers to the way ...
''),Bauer, 2003, p. 4 '' Scincus multifasciatus'' Kuhl, 1820, '' Scincus trilineatus'' Schneider, 1801, '' Scincus quinquetaeniatus'' Lichtenstein, 1823, ''Scincus agilis'' Raddi, 1823 (=''
Mabuya agilis ''Mabuya'' is a genus of long-tailed skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae. The genus is restricted to species from various Caribbean islands. Out of 26 recognized species, six species are only found in Caribbean islands. Species in the genus ...
''),Bauer, 2003, p. 5 '' Lacerta fasciata'' Linnaeus, 1758, '' Lacerta quinquelineata'' Linnaeus, 1758, '' Scincus tristatus'' Daudin, 1802, and '' Scincus Sloanei'' Daudin, 1802, but he did not select a type species. Subsequently, Fitzinger selected "''Eumeces mabouia''" (='' Mabuya mabouya'') as the type species, but his designation is invalid because Wagler did not include this species in his original concept of the genus.Bauer, 2003, pp. 4–5 In 1957, Loveridge selected ''Scincus agilis'' (=''Mabuya agilis'') as the type species from among the species Wagler had included as the type species, and in 1970 Peters and Donoso-Barros listed, without comment, ''Lacerta punctata'' Linnaeus (=''Lygosoma punctatum'') as the type species. When Mausfeld and others split ''Mabuya'' in 2002, they resurrected ''Euprepis'' for the group including African and Malagasy species and the Noronha skink and also listed ''Lacerta punctata'' as the type species, considering all previous type designations invalid. In 2003, Bauer argued that the earliest type species designation is valid, so the type species of ''Euprepis'' is ''Scincus agilis'', a member of ''Mabuya'' as restricted by Mausfeld and others in 2002 (including only American species), making ''Euprepis'' a junior synonym of ''Mabuya''. Bauer also argued that ''Lacerta punctata'' did not apply to a species of the African ''Mabuya'' group, as Mausfeld and others had assumed, but rather to the Asian species ''
Lygosoma punctatum ''Lygosoma'' is a genus of lizards, commonly known as supple skinks or writhing skinks, which are members of the family Scincidae. ''Lygosoma'' is the type genus of the subfamily Lygosominae. The common name, writhing skinks, refers to the way ...
''.


Species

Among the species previously included in ''Euprepis'' or ''Euprepes'' are the following: *''Euprepis atlanticus'': Mausfeld et al., 2002Mausfeld et al., 2002, p. 290 – currently '' Trachylepis atlantica'' *''Euprepes chaperi'' Vaillant, 1884 – currently '' Lygosoma sundevalli''Boulenger, 1887
p. 307
/ref> *''Euprepis punctatus'': Gray, 1845Gray, 1845, p. 111 – currently '' Trachylepis atlantica''


Footnotes


References


Literature cited

*Bauer, A.M. 2003. On the identity of ''Lacerta punctata'' Linnaeus 1758, the type species of the genus ''Euprepis'' Wagler 1830, and the generic assignment of Afro-Malagasy skinks. African Journal of Herpetology 52:1–7. *Boulenger, G.A. 1887
Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second edition. Vol. III. Lacertidae, Gerrosauridae, Scincidae, Anelytropidae, Dibamidae, Chamaeleonidae
London: published by order of the Trustees of the British Museum, 575 pp. *Gray, J.E. 1845
Catalogue of the specimens of lizards in the collection of the British Museum
London: published by order of the Trustees of the British Museum, 289 pp. * {{Taxonbar, from=Q15177526 Lygosominae Obsolete vertebrate taxa Lizard genera