Melanoseps

Melanoseps
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Subphylum:	Vertebrata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Suborder:	Sauria
Infraorder:	Scincomorpha
Family:	Scincidae
Subfamily:	Scincinae
Genus:	Melanoseps Boulenger, 1887[1]

Melanoseps is a genus of lizards commonly called skinks. The genus is endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa.

Species

The following eight species are recognized as being valid.^[2]

• Melanoseps ater (Günther, 1873) – Longtail Limbless Skink.^[3]
• Melanoseps emmrichi Broadley, 2006 - Uluguru Limbless Skink.^[4]
• Melanoceps longicauda Tornier, 1900
• Melanoseps loveridgei Brygoo & Roux-Estève, 1982
• Melanoseps occidentalis (W. Peters, 1877)
• Melanoceps pygmaeus Broadley, 2006
• Melanoseps rondoensis Loveridge, 1942
• Melanoceps uzungwensis Loveridge, 1942

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Melanoseps.

Etymology

The specific name, loveridgei, is in honor of British herpetologist Arthur Loveridge.^[5]

References

1. "Melanoseps ". Dahms Tierleben. www.dahmstierleben.de/systematik/Reptilien/Squamata/Scincomorpha/Scincidae/scincinae.
2. "Melanoseps ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
3. http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/178634/0
4. http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/16393900/0
5. Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Melanoseps loveridgei, p. 161).

Further reading

• Boulenger GA (1887). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume III. ... Scincidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 575 pp. + Plates I-XL. (Melanoseps, new genus, p. 422).