Scincus

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: Scincus
Species (5): S. albifasciatus – S. conirostris – S. hemprichii – S. mitranus – S. scincus
Name

Scincus Garsault, 1764: pl. 670
References
Primary references

Garsault, F.A.P. de 1764. Les figures des plantes et animaux d'usage en médecine, décrits dans la Matière Médicale de Mr. Geoffroy Médecin, dessinés d'après nature. Gravés par Mrs. Defehrt, Prevost, Duflos, Martinet &c. Niquet scrip. Vol. 5. pl. 644–729. Paris: Desprez. BHL. Reference page.

Additional references

Laurenti, J.N. 1768. Specimen medicum, exhibens synopsin reptilium emendatam cum experimentis circa venena et antidota reptilium austracorum, quod authoritate et consensu (In Latin). Joan Thomae: Vienna. 217 pp. BHL Reference page. [subsequent use]

Vernacular names
español: Escinco
Nederlands: Zandvissen

Scincus is a genus of skinks, lizards in the family Scincidae. The genus contains four or five species, all of which are typical desert inhabitants, living in sandy and dune-like areas with a hot and dry climate. Species in the genus Scincus can be found from Arabia to the Sahara desert.

Taxonomy

Scincus is the type genus of the subfamily Scincinae. As the subfamily Scincinae appears to be paraphyletic and is in need of revision, it is as yet undetermined which skink genera are closely enough related to Scincus to be retained in the Scincinae. (Austin & Arnold 2006).
Species

The genus Scincus contains five species which are recognized as being valid.[1]

Scincus albifasciatus Boulenger, 1890
Scincus conirostris (Blanford, 1881) – sandfish skink
Scincus hemprichii Wiegmann, 1837
Scincus mitranus Anderson, 1871 – eastern sandfish or eastern skink
Scincus scincus (Linnaeus, 1758) – common sandfish or common skink

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

"Scincus ". The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.

Further reading

Austin, J.J. & Arnold, E.N. (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).