''Sepsina'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

skink Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae, a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. S ...

s (

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Scincidae). The genus is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

to southern

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Taxonomy

This genus is presently placed in the subfamily

Scincinae Scincinae is a subfamily of lizards. The subfamily contains 33 genera, and the genera contain a combined total of 284 species, commonly called skinks. The systematics is at times controversial. The group is probably paraphyletic. It is one of th ...

, a subfamily which seems to be

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

however. ''Sepsina'' belongs to a major clade of this group which does not seem to include the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

genus ''

Scincus ''Scincus'' is a genus of skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae. The genus contains four or five species, all of which are typical desert inhabitants, living in sandy and dune-like areas with a hot and dry climate. Species in the genus ''Scinc ...

''. Thus, it will probably be eventually assigned to a new, yet-to-be-named subfamily.Austin &

Arnold Arnold may refer to: People * Arnold (given name), a masculine given name * Arnold (surname), a German and English surname Places Australia * Arnold, Victoria, a small town in the Australian state of Victoria Canada * Arnold, Nova Scotia Uni ...

(2006).

Species

The following five

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

are recognized: The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org. *''

Sepsina alberti ''Sepsina alberti'', also known commonly as Albert's skink and Albert's burrowing skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Namibia. Etymology Unfortunately, Hewitt did not explain to whom the specific n ...

Hewitt Hewitt may refer to: Places ;United Kingdom * Hewitt (hill), Hills in England, Wales and Ireland over two thousand feet with a relative height of at least 30 metres ;United States * Hewitt, Minnesota, a city * Hewitt, Texas, a city * Hewitt ...

, 1929 – Albert's skink, Albert's burrowing skink *''

Sepsina angolensis ''Sepsina angolensis'', the Angola skink, is a species of lizard which is found in Namibia, Angola, Zambia, and Democratic Republic of the Congo. References {{Taxonbar, from=Q5122015 angolensis This list of Latin and Greek words commonly use ...

Bocage Bocage (, ) is a terrain of mixed woodland and pasture characteristic of parts of Northern France, Southern England, Ireland, the Netherlands and Northern Germany, in regions where pastoral farming is the dominant land use. ''Bocage'' may ...

, 1866 – Angola skink *''

Sepsina bayonii ''Sepsina bayonii'', also known commonly as Bayon's skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is native to Central Africa and Southern Africa. Etymology The specific name, ''bayonii'', is in honor of Francisco Antonio ...

'' (Bocage, 1866) – Bayon's skink *''

Sepsina copei ''Sepsina copei'', also known commonly as Cope's reduced-limb skink or the sepsina skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Angola. Etymology The specific name, ''copei'', is in honor of American herpet ...

'' Bocage, 1873 – sepsina skink, Cope's reduced-limb skink *''

Sepsina tetradactyla ''Sepsina tetradactyla'', the four-fingered skink, is a species of lizard which is found in Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (R ...

'' W. Peters, 1874 – four-fingered skink

Taxonomy

Species

References

Further reading