''Voeltzkowia'' is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
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 ...
s.
Geographic range
The genus ''Voeltzkowia'' 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
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
.
Species
Three
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 ...
are recognized as being valid.
["''Voeltzkowia'' ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.]
*''
Voeltzkowia mira''
*''
Voeltzkowia mobydick''
*''
Voeltzkowia yamagishii''
''
Nota bene
(, or ; plural form ) is a Latin phrase meaning "note well".
It is often abbreviated as NB, n.b., or with the ligature
and first appeared in English writing . In Modern English, it is used, particularly in legal papers, to draw the atten ...
'': 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 ''Voeltzkowia''.
The species ''V. mobydick'' and ''V. yamagishii'' were formerly in the genus ''Sirenoscincus''.
The species formerly known as ''Voeltzkowia fierinensis, V. lineata, V. petiti'', and
''V. rubrocaudata'' have been assigned to the genus ''
Grandidierina
''Grandidierina'' is a genus of skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae. The genus is endemic to Madagascar.
Species
The following four species, listed alphabetically by specific name, are recognized as being valid.
*'' Grandidierina fierinens ...
''.
Etymology
The
generic
Generic or generics may refer to:
In business
* Generic term, a common name used for a range or class of similar things not protected by trademark
* Generic brand, a brand for a product that does not have an associated brand or trademark, other ...
name, ''Voeltzkowia'', is in honor of German biologist
Alfred Voeltzkow
Alfred Voeltzkow (14 April 1860 – February 1947) was a German zoologist and botanist from Berlin, Brandenburg.
He studied sciences at the universities of Heidelberg, Berlin, Freiburg, and Würzburg, receiving his doctorate at Freiburg in 18 ...
.
[ Boettger 1893, p. 116.]
References
Further reading
*
Boettger O (1893). ''Katalog der Reptilien-Sammlung im Museum der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Frankfurt am Main. I. Teil (Rhynchocephalen, Schildkröten, Krokodile, Eidechsen, Chamäleons).'' Frankfurt am Main: Gebrüder Knauer. x + 140 pp. (''Voeltzkowia'', new genus, p. 116; ''V. mira'', new species, pp. 116–117). (in German).
Lizard genera
Taxa named by Oskar Boettger
Endemic fauna of Madagascar
{{Skink-stub