''Carinascincus'' 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 ...

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 (

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), commonly called snow skinks or cool-skinks and residing mainly in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

or Victoria,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Then recognised as the genus ''Niveoscincus'', it was found to belong to a

clade In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach t ...

with the

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 ...

Carlia ''Carlia'' is a genus of skinks, commonly known as four-fingered skinks or rainbow skinks, in the subfamily Eugongylinae. Before being placed in this new subfamily, ''Carlia'' was recovered in a clade with the genera '' Niveoscincus'', '' Lamp ...

'', '' Lampropholis'' and others of the '' Eugongylus'' group within Lygosominae. Cogger has rejected the use of the junior name ''Niveoscincus'' and recognizes the valid senior generic name ''Carinascincus'' for the group.Cogger (2014). For similar skinks see genera ''

Pseudemoia ''Pseudemoia'' is a genus of skinks native to southeastern Australia. For similar skinks see Genus, genera ''Bassiana'', ''Lampropholis'', and ''Niveoscincus''. Reproduction At least in ''P. entrecasteauxii'', ''P. pagenstecheri'', and ''P. spen ...

'', '' Lampropholis'', and '' Bassiana''. These skinks have adapted to the cooler weather of southern Australia and particularly Tasmania, hence the common names.

Species

*'' Carinascincus coventryi'' – southern forest cool-skink *'' Carinascincus greeni'' – alpine cool-skink or northern snow skink *'' Carinascincus metallicus'' – metallic skink or metallic cool-skink *'' Carinascincus microlepidotus'' – boulder cool-skink or southern snow skink *'' Carinascincus ocellatus'' – spotted skink, ocellated cool-skink, or ocellated skink *'' Carinascincus orocryptus'' – Tasmanian mountain skink, heath cool-skink, or mountain skink *'' Carinascincus palfreymani'' – Pedra Branca skink, Pedra Branca cool-skink, or red-throated skink *'' Carinascincus pretiosus'' – Tasmanian tree skink or agile cool-skink

Species

References

Further reading