''Sphenomorphus indicus'' (Indian forest 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), ...

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 ...

Description

Its habit is lacertiform; the distance between the end of the snout and the fore limb contained about 1.6 times in the distance between axilla and groin. Snout short, obtuse; loreal region nearly vertical. Lower eyelid scaly. Nostril pierced in a single nasal, or between a nasal and a postnasal; no supranasal; rostral convex, largely m contact with the frontonasal, which is broader than long, and forms a narrow suture with the frontal; the latter as long as frontoparietal and parietals together, in contact with the first, second, and third supraoculars; 4 large supraoculars, followed by 2 very small ones; first supraocular not much longer than second; 9 or 10 supracilianes, first largest; frontoparietals and interparietal distinct, former a little longer than latter; parietals forming a short suture behind the interparietal; no nuchals; fifth and sixth upper labials largest and below the eye. Ear-opening oval, smaller than eye-opening; no auricular lobules. 36 or 38 smooth scales round the middle of the body, laterals smallest. A pair of large pre-anals. When the limbs are pressed against the body, the hind limb reaches the elbow or not quite so far. Digits rather elongate, compressed; subdigital lamellae smooth or obtusely keeled, 17 to 20 under the fourth toe. Tail almost twice as long as head and body. Brown or olive above, uniform or with scattered darker dots; sides of head and body dark brown, light-margined above; usually with large light spots; lower surface whitish.Boulenger, G. A. 1890. Fauna of British India. Reptilia and Batrachia. From snout to vent 3.5 inches; tail Indian forest skink

Distribution

S China (incl. Hainan, west to E Xizang =

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

, and north to Henan, Shaanxi, and Gansu, Guangdong: Nan Ao Island),

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

(likely in Bilauk Tuang mountain fide Taylor 1963: 1020),

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

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 ...

(Darjeeling, Sikkim) east to

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

and south to W

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Type locality: Sikkim, Himalayas.

Notes

References

* Annandale, Nelson 1905 Contributions to Oriental Herpetology. Suppl. III. Notes on the Oriental lizards in the Indian Museum, with a list of the species recorded from British India and Ceylon. J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal (2) 1: 139-151 * Das, I. & Palden, J. 2000 A herpetological collection from Bhutan, with new country records. Herpetological Review 31 (4): 256-258 *

Gray Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

, J. E. 1853 Descriptions of some undescribed species of reptiles collected by Dr. Joseph Hooker in the Khassia Mountains, East Bengal, and Sikkim Himalaya. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (2) 12: 386 - 392 * Yang, Yuhua;Gao, Zhengfa;Zhao, Ermi 1989 Karyotypic studies of Sphenomorphus indicus (Scincidae) and Takydromus septentrionalis (Lacertidae) Chinese Herpetological Research 2 (1): 55-59

External links

* * http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Sphenomorphus_indicus.jpg * http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Sphenomorphus_indicus2.jpg * http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Sphenomorphus_indicus3.jpg {{Taxonbar, from=Q610725 indicus Reptiles of Asia Fauna of Southeast Asia Reptiles of Thailand Reptiles described in 1853 Taxa named by John Edward Gray