''Ornithuroscincus'' is a genus of

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 ...

lizard Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...

s in the family Scincidae. All but one species are endemic to New Guinea: in addition to northern New Guinea, ''

Ornithuroscincus noctua The moth skink (''Ornithuroscincus noctua'') is a species of skink. It is found in Pacific regions including Sulawesi, Northern Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Tuamotu, Marquesas Islands, Pitcairn Islands, Hawaii, Indonesia, Fiji, Wes ...

'' occurs on many Pacific islands.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Ornithuroscincus'' was erected in 2021 in the revision of the then- polyphyletic genus ''

Lobulia ''Lobulia'' is a genus of skinks in the subfamily Eugongylinae. The genus ''Lobulia'' is endemic to New Guinea. Species There are 7 species: *'' Lobulia brongersmai'' ( Zweifel, 1972) - Brongersma's lobulia *'' Lobulia elegans'' (Boulenger, 1897 ...

''. Its closest relative in '' Alpinoscincus''.

Description

''Ornithuroscincus'' are small to medium-sized skinks with adult

snout–vent length Snout–vent length (SVL) is a morphometric measurement taken in herpetology from the tip of the snout to the most posterior opening of the cloacal slit (vent)."direct line distance from tip of snout to posterior margin of vent" It is the most c ...

of . The limbs are short. They are ovoviviparous with 1–3 offspring in each litter.

Habitat

They are terrestrial to semi- arboreal. Most species have restricted ranges in mountainous areas, but some species are widespread and occur in lowland areas.

Species

The following species are recognized as being valid: *'' Ornithuroscincus albodorsalis'' *'' Ornithuroscincus bengaun'' *'' Ornithuroscincus inornatus'' *''

'' – moth skink *'' Ornithuroscincus nototaenia'' *'' Ornithuroscincus pterophilus'' *'' Ornithuroscincus sabini'' *'' Ornithuroscincus shearmani'' *'' Ornithuroscincus viridis'' '' Nota bene'': A

binomial authority In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than ''Ornithuroscincus''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q110232509 Ornithuroscincus Lizard genera Taxa named by Allen Allison Taxa named by Salvador Carranza Taxa named by Edward Frederick Kraus