Pseudoacontias

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: Pseudoacontias
Species: P. angelorum - P. madagascariensis - P. menamainty - P. unicolor
Name

Pseudoacontias Barboza de Bocage, 1889
Vernacular names

Pseudoacontias is genus of skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae.

Geographic range

The genus Pseudoacontias is endemic to Madagascar.[2]

Description

All species of Pseudoacontias are large, fossorial skinks, measuring at least 200 mm (7.9 in) in snout–vent length. They lack limbs or have greatly reduced limbs.[3][4]

Species

The genus contains the following species:[2]

Pseudoacontias angelorum Raxworthy & Nussbaum, 1995
Pseudoacontias madagascariensis Bocage, 1889 – giant Madagascar skink
Pseudoacontias menamainty Andreone & Greer, 2002
Pseudoacontias unicolor Sakata & Hikida, 2003

Etymology

The specific name, angelorum (genitive, masculine, plural), is in honor of twin brothers Angelien and Angeluc Razafimanantsoa who are Madagascan naturalists.[5]

References

Pseudoacontias madagascariensis at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 29 April 2014.
Pseudoacontias at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 29 April 2014.
Sakata S, Hikida T (2003). "A new fossorial scincine lizard of the genus Pseudoacontias (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae) from Nosy Be, Madagascar". Amphibia-Reptilia. 24: 57–64. doi:10.1163/156853803763806948.
Andreone F, Greer AE (2002). "Malagasy scincid lizards: Descriptions of nine new species, with notes on the morphology, reproduction and taxonomy of some previously described species (Reptilia, Squamata: Scincidae)". Journal of Zoology. 258 (2): 139–1622. doi:10.1017/S0952836902001280.

Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Pseudoacontias angelorum, p. 9).