''Ophiomorus raithmai'', known
commonly as the eastern sand swimmer and the three-fingered sand-fish, 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 ...
of
skink, a
lizard in the
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 species is found in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
.
Etymology
The
specific name, ''raithmai'', is derived from the
Sindhi common name for this lizard, ''raith mai'', which means "sand fish".
Geographic range
''O. raithmai'' is found in northwestern India (
Gujarat
Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
,
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
, Rajasthan) and in adjacent southeastern Pakistan.
[. www.reptile-database.org.]
Habitat
The natural
habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and 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 ...
of ''O. raithmai'' is
desert.
[ Khan MS, Papenfuss TJ (2010). "''Ophiomorus raithmai'' ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010.]
Reproduction
''O. raithmai'' is
viviparous
Among animals, viviparity is development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. This is opposed to oviparity which is a reproductive mode in which females lay developing eggs that complete their development and hatch externally from the ...
.
[
]
References
Further reading
* Das I (2002). ''A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of India''. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. . (''Ophiomorus raithmai'', p. 112).
* Greer AE, Wilson GDF (2001). "Comments on the scincid lizard genus ''Ophiomorus'', with a cladistic analysis of the species". ''Hamadryad'' 26 (2): 261–271.
* Sindaco R, Jeremčenko VK (2008). ''The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic. 1. Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Turtles, Crocodiles, Amphisbaenians and Lizards of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia''. (Monographs of the ''Societas Herpetologica Italica''). Latina, Italy: Edizioni Belvedere. 580 pp. .
Ophiomorus
Reptiles of India
Reptiles of Pakistan
Reptiles described in 1966
Taxa named by Steven C. Anderson
Taxa named by Alan E. Leviton
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