Ophiomorus raithmai, known commonly as the eastern sand swimmer and the three-fingered sand-fish, is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is found in India and Pakistan.[2]

Ophiomorus raithmai
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Scincidae
Genus: Ophiomorus
Species:
O. raithmai
Binomial name
Ophiomorus raithmai

Etymology edit

The specific name, raithmai, is derived from the Sindhi common name for this lizard, raith mai, which means "sand fish".[3]

Geographic range edit

O. raithmai is found in northwestern India (Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan) and in adjacent southeastern Pakistan.[4]

Habitat edit

The natural habitat of O. raithmai is desert.[5]

Reproduction edit

O. raithmai is viviparous.[4]

References edit

  1. ^ Khan, M.S.; Papenfuss, T.J. (2010). "Ophiomorus raithmai". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T178671A7592614. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T178671A7592614.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. ^ Anderson SC, Leviton AE (1966). "A review of the genus Ophiomorus (Sauria: Scincidae), with descriptions of three new forms". Proceedings of the California Acadademy of Sciences, Fourth Series 33 (16): 499-534, 8 figures, 1 table. (Ophiomorus raithmai, new species, pp. 519-525 + Figures 4e, 4f, 5c).
  3. ^ 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. (Ophiomorus raithmai, p. 216).
  4. ^ a b Species Ophiomorus raithmai at The Reptile Database . www.reptile-database.org.
  5. ^ Khan MS, Papenfuss TJ (2010). "Ophiomorus raithmai ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2010.

Further reading edit

  • Das I (2002). A Photographic Guide to Snakes and other Reptiles of India. Sanibel Island, Florida: Ralph Curtis Books. 144 pp. ISBN 0-88359-056-5. (Ophiomorus raithmai, p. 112).
  • Greer AE, Wilson GDF (2001). "Comments on the scincid lizard genus Ophiomorus, with a cladistic analysis of the species". Hamadryad 26 (2): 261–271.
  • Sindaco R, Jeremčenko VK (2008). The Reptiles of the Western Palearctic. 1. Annotated Checklist and Distributional Atlas of the Turtles, Crocodiles, Amphisbaenians and Lizards of Europe, North Africa, Middle East and Central Asia. (Monographs of the Societas Herpetologica Italica). Latina, Italy: Edizioni Belvedere. 580 pp. ISBN 978-88-89504-14-7.