Schmidt's helmet skink (''Tribolonotus schmidti''), also known
commonly as Schmidt's crocodile skink, 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
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 ...
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
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...
in the
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...
.
Etymology
The
specific name, ''schmidti'', is in honor of American herpetologist
Karl Patterson Schmidt
Karl Patterson Schmidt (June 19, 1890 – September 26, 1957) was an American herpetologist.
Family
Schmidt was the son of George W. Schmidt and Margaret Patterson Schmidt. George W. Schmidt was a German professor, who, at the time of Karl ...
.
Habitat
The preferred 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 ''T. schmidti'' is
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
, at altitudes from sea level to .
Description
The
holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...
of ''T. schmidti'' has a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of , and a total length (including tail) of . It has two rows of enlarged plate-like
dorsal scales
In snakes, the dorsal scales are the longitudinal series of plates that encircle the body, but do not include the ventral scales. Campbell JA, Lamar WW (2004). ''The Venomous Reptiles of the Western Hemisphere''. Ithaca and London: Comstock Publis ...
running down the center of the back. Each row contains more than 20 scales from the back of the head to the beginning of the tail.
[Burt (1930).]
Reproduction
''T. schmidti'' 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 m ...
.
[
]
References
Further reading
* Adler GH, Austin CC, Dudley R
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
(1995). "Dispersal and speciation of skinks among archipelagos in the tropical Pacific Ocean". ''Evolutionary Ecology'' 9: 529–541.
*Austin CC, Rittmeyer EN, Richards SJ, Zug GR (2010). "Phylogeny, historical biogeography and body size evolution in Pacific Island Crocodile skinks ''Tribolonotus'' (Squamata: Scincidae)". ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 57: 227–236.
* Burt CE (1930). "Herpetological Results of the Whitney South Sea Expedition IV. Descriptions of New Species of Lizards from the Pacific Islands (Scincidæ)". ''American Museum Novitates'' (427): 1–3. (''Tribolonotus schmidti'', new species, p. 3).
* Roux J (1930). "''Note sur un reptile scincidé des îles Salomon présentant des pres pédiaux'' ". ''Verhandlungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Basel'' 41: 129–135. (''Pediporus schmidti'', new combination, p. 129). (in French).
Tribolonotus
Reptiles of the Solomon Islands
Reptiles described in 1930
Taxa named by Charles Earle Burt
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