The Arnhem Land Gorges skink (''Bellatorias obiri'') is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of 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 the appropriate s ...

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. Ski ...

, a lizard in the

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

Scincidae. The species is native to

Arnhem Land Arnhem Land is a historical region of the Northern Territory of Australia, with the term still in use. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around from the territory capital, Darwin. In 1623, Dutch East India Compan ...

in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory ...

. The Arnhem Land Gorges skink was first noted to be distinct in 1974 by

Harold Cogger Harold George "Hal" Cogger (born 4 May 1935) is an Australian herpetologist. He was curator of reptiles and amphibians at the Australian Museum from 1960 to 1975, and Deputy Director of the museum from 1976 to 1995. He has written extensively ...

, who called it ''Egernia'' cf. ''frerei''. Australian herpetologists Richard W. Wells and

C. Ross Wellington The Wells and Wellington affair was a dispute about the publication of three papers in the ''Australian Journal of Herpetology'' in 1983 and 1985. The periodical was established in 1981 as a peer-reviewed scientific journal focusing on the study ...

described ''Hortonia obiri'' in 1985 from a specimen in the Northern Territory Museum in Darwin that had been collected 3 km southwest of

Gunbalanya Gunbalanya (also spelt Kunbarlanja, and historically referred to as Oenpelli) is an Aboriginal Australian town in west Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia, about east of Darwin. The main language spoken in the community is Kunwi ...

(formerly known as Oenpelli) by Brian Jukes on 28 July 1975. Ross Sadlier called it ''Egernia arnhemensis'' in 1990.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q727155 Skinks of Australia Reptiles described in 1985 Taxa named by Richard Walter Wells Taxa named by Cliff Ross Wellington Reptiles of the Northern Territory Bellatorias