''Lygosoma'' is a

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 ...

lizards Lizard is the common name used for all 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 oceanic island chains. The ...

, commonly known as supple skinks or writhing skinks, which are members of 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. ''Lygosoma'' is the

type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus (''genus typica'') is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name. Zoological nomenclature According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearin ...

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 botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

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 ...

. The common name, writhing skinks, refers to the way these stubby-legged animals move,

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

-like but more slowly and more awkwardly.

Geographic range

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 ''Lygosoma'' are found in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to southeast Asia.

Taxonomy

In the late 19th and early 20th century, ''Lygosoma'' was used as a "

wastebin taxon Wastebasket taxon (also called a wastebin taxon, dustbin taxon or catch-all taxon) is a term used by some taxonomists to refer to a taxon that has the purpose of classifying organisms that do not fit anywhere else. They are typically defined by e ...

", to which almost every newly described skink was assigned. Which specific species are contained within this genus is controversial because of its unresolved historic relation to two other closely related

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

: ''Mochlus'' and ''Lepidothyris.'' Currently, there are 16 known species in ''Lygosoma'', 15 known species in ''Mochlus'', and three known species in ''Lepidothyris''. However, some species under the latter two genera are often listed under ''Lygosoma'', and ''Lygosoma'' was recently found to be

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

to the other two genera based on phylogenetic studies. To clear up this confusion, all species (49) pertaining to these three genera are classified as ''Lygosoma s.l.'' and the known 16 species under ''Lygosoma'' are classified as ''Lygosoma s.s.'''' After performing extensive phylogenetic analyses (genetic and molecular, species tree, and morphological anaylses), the classification of ''Lygosoma s.l.'' was further revised to containing four genera: ''Lygosoma'' (Southeast Asian writhing skinks), ''Mochlus'' (African supple skinks), ''Riopa'' (Asian gracile skinks), and ''Subdoluseps gen. nov.'' (Asian agile skinks). Genus ''Lygosoma s.s.'' was found to be separated into three clades instead of being a

monophyletic In biological cladistics for the classification of organisms, monophyly is the condition of a taxonomic grouping being a clade – that is, a grouping of organisms which meets these criteria: # the grouping contains its own most recent co ...

group in relation to other genera within ''Lygosoma s.l.'', which in turn renamed this genus to ''Lygosoma'' and contains species that have ''Lygosoma quadrupes'' as their common ancestor. ''Mochlus'' was also found to be paraphyletic to ''Lepidothyris'', making it not a monophyletic group and ultimately grouping genera ''Mochlus'' and ''Lepidothyris'' as one genus, ''Mochlus''. ''

Riopa ''Riopa'' is a genus of skinks. It is easy to tell the species apart from most other skinks by bright red coloring on their sides from which they get their name. They also have a bule that runs down the side of their tail. Diet The riopas are om ...

'' was a recently discovered genus from about 11 years ago and was supported as a monophyletic group within ''Lygosoma s.l.'', and ''

Subdoluseps ''Subdoluseps'', also known Common name, commonly as supple skinks and writhing skinks, is a genus of lizards in the subfamily Lygosominae of the Family (biology), family Scincidae. Member species were all previously assigned to the genus ''Lygos ...

gen. nov.'' is also a newly added genus to this group.

Species

The following species are recognized. www.reptile-database.org. *''

Lygosoma angeli ''Lygosoma angeli'', also known commonly as Angel's writhing skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is native to Southeast Asia. Etymology The specific name, ''angeli'', is in honor of French herpetologist Fernand A ...

'' ( M.A. Smith, 1937) – Angel's writhing skink *''

Lygosoma bampfyldei ''Lygosoma bampfyldei'', commonly known as Bampfylde's supple skink or Bampfylde's writhing skink, is a species of lizard in the subfamily Lygosominae of the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Malaysia. Etymology The specific name, ' ...

'' Bartlett, 1895 – Bampfylde's supple skink, Bampfylde's writhing skink *''

Lygosoma boehmei ''Lygosoma'' is a genus of lizards, commonly known as supple skinks or writhing skinks, which are members of the family (biology), family Scincidae. ''Lygosoma'' is the type genus of the subfamily Lygosominae. The common name, writhing skinks, r ...

'' Ziegler et al., 2007 *''

Lygosoma corpulentum The fat skink (''Lygosoma corpulentum'') is a species of skink found in Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar a ...

'' M.A. Smith, 1921 – fat skink *''

Lygosoma haroldyoungi The banded supple skink (''Lygosoma haroldyoungi)'', also known commonly as Harold's writhing skink and Harold Young's supple skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Southeast Asia. Etymology The specif ...

'' (

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) ** List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) ...

, 1962) – banded supple skink, Harold's writhing skink, Harold Young's supple skink *''

Lygosoma isodactylum The Siamese writhing skink or even-toed supple skink (''Lygosoma isodactylum'') is a species of skink found in Cambodia and Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 193 ...

'' ( Günther, 1864) – Siamese writhing skink, even-toed supple skink *'' Lygosoma kinabatanganense'' Grismer, Quah, Duzulkafly & Yambun, 2018 – Kinabatangan supple skink *'' Lygosoma koratense'' M.A. Smith, 1917 – Korat supple skink, Koraten writhing skink *'' Lygosoma opisthorhodum''

F. Werner Franz Josef Maria Werner (15 August 1867 in Vienna – 28 February 1939 in Vienna) was an Austrians, Austrian zoology, zoologist and exploration, explorer. Specializing as a herpetology, herpetologist and entomology, entomologist, Werner describ ...

, 1910 *'' Lygosoma peninsulare'' Grismer, Quah, Duzulkafly & Yambun, 2018 *''

Lygosoma quadrupes The short-limbed supple skink or Linnaeus's writhing skink (''Lygosoma quadrupes'') is a species of skink which is found widely in southern China, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, West Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra, ...

'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...

, 1766) – short-limbed supple skink, Linnaeus's writhing skink *'' Lygosoma schneideri'' F. Werner, 1900 – Sumatran supple skink *'' Lygosoma siamense'' Siler, Heitz, Davis, Freitas, Aowphol, Termprayoon & Grismer, 2018 – Siamese supple skink *'' Lygosoma singha'' (Taylor, 1950) *'' Lygosoma tabonorum'' Heitz, Diesmos, Freitas, Ellsworth & Grismer, 2016 – Palawan supple skink *'' Lygosoma veunsaiense'' Geissler, Hartmann & Neang, 2012 ''

Nota bene ( ; plural: ) is the Latin language, Latin phrase meaning ''note well''. In manuscripts, ''nota bene'' is abbreviated in upper-case as NB and N.B., and in lower-case as n.b. and nb; the editorial usages of ''nota bene'' and ''notate bene'' fi ...

'': A

binomial authority In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

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

Geographic range

Taxonomy

Species

References

Further reading