''Plestiodon barbouri'', also known
commonly as Barbour's blue-tailed skink and Barbour's eyelid 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 in the
family 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
Ryukyu Islands
The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...
(
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
).
Etymology
The
specific name, ''barbouri'', is in honor of American herpetologist
Thomas Barbour.
[ Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Eumeces barbouri'', p. 16).]
Geographic range
''P. barbouri'' is found on the
Amami Islands
The The name ''Amami-guntō'' was standardized on February 15, 2010. Prior to that, another name, ''Amami shotō'' (奄美諸島), was also used. is a Japanese archipelago in the Satsunan Islands, which is part of the Ryukyu Islands, and is sout ...
and the
Okinawa Islands in the Ryukyu Archipelago of Japan.
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 ...
s of ''P. barbouri'' are
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, ...
and
shrubland.
Reproduction
The
mode of reproduction of ''P. barbouri'' is unknown.
[
]
References
Further reading
* Schmitz A, Mausfeld P, Embert D (2004). "Molecular studies on the genus ''Eumeces'' Wiegmann 1834: phylogenetic relationships and taxonomic imlications". ''Hamadryad'' 28 (1–2): 73–89. (''Plestiodon barbouri'', new combination).
* Van Denburgh J (1912). "Concerning Certain Species of Reptiles and Amphibians from China, Japan, the Loo Choo Islands, and Formosa". ''Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, Fourth Series'' 3: 187–257. (''Eumeces barbouri'', new species, pp. 215–216).
barbouri
Lizards of Asia
Endemic reptiles of Japan
Endemic fauna of the Ryukyu Islands
Reptiles described in 1912
Taxa named by John Van Denburgh
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