Paracontias

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Cladus: Craniata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Lepidosauromorpha
Superordo: Lepidosauria
Ordo: Squamata
Subordo: Scincomorpha
Superfamilia: Scincoidea

Familia: Scincidae
Genus: Paracontias
Species: P. brocchii - P. hafa - P. hildebrandti - P. holomelas - P. manify - P. milloti - P. rothschildi - P. tsararano
Name

Paracontias Mocquard, 1894
Vernacular names

Paracontias is a genus of skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae. The genus is endemic to Madagascar.[2]

Taxonomy and systematics

Paracontias is usually placed in the subfamily Scincinae, which seems to be paraphyletic however. Probably quite close to Amphiglossus and possibly Androngo trivittatus, it belongs to a major clade which does not seem to include the type genus Scincus. Thus, it will probably be eventually assigned to a new, yet-to-be-named subfamily. (Austin & Arnold 2006)
Species

The following 14 species are recognized as being valid.[2]

Paracontias ampijoroensis Miralles, Jono, Mori, Gandola, Erens, J. Köhler, Glaw & Vences, 2016
Paracontias brocchii Mocquard, 1894 – stone skink
Paracontias fasika J. Köhler, Vences, Erbacher & Glaw, 2010
Paracontias hafa Andreone & Greer, 2002
Paracontias hildebrandti (W. Peters, 1880) – Hildebrand's skink
Paracontias holomelas (Günther, 1877) – Anzahamaru skink
Paracontias kankana J. Köhler, Vieites, Glaw, Kaffenberger & Vences, 2009
Paracontias mahamavo Miralles, Jono, Mori, Gandola, Erens, J. Köhler, Glaw & Vences, 2016
Paracontias manify Andreone & Greer, 2002
Paracontias milloti Angel, 1949 – nosy Mamoko skink
Paracontias minimus (Mocquard,1906)
Paracontias rothschildi Mocquard, 1905 – Rothschild's skink
Paracontias tsararano Andreone & Greer, 2002
Paracontias vermisaurus Miralles, J. Köhler, Vieites, Glaw & Vences, 2011

Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Paracontias.
References

"Paracontias ". Dahms Tierleben. www.dahmstierleben.de. (in German).

Genus Paracontias at The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org

Further reading

Austin JJ, Arnold EN (2006). "Using ancient and recent DNA to explore relationships of extinct and endangered Leiolopisma skinks (Reptilia: Scincidae) in the Mascarene islands". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39 (2): 503–511. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2005.12.011 (HTML abstract)
Mocquard F (1894). "Reptiles nouveaux ou insuffisamment connus de Madagascar ". Compte Rendu Sommaire des Séances de la Société Philomatique de Paris 17: 1–8. (Paracontias, new genus, p. 3). (in French).