Indian Forest Skink is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of skink

Skink

Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae. Together with several other lizard families, including Lacertidae , they comprise the superfamily or infraorder Scincomorpha...

.

Description

Habit lacertiform; the distance between the end of the snout and the fore limb contained about 1.6 times in the distance between axilla and groin. Snout short, obtuse; loreal region nearly vertical. Lower eyelid scaly. Nostril pierced in a single nasal, or between a nasal and a postnasal; no supranasal; rostral convex, largely m contact with the frontonasal, which is broader than long, and forms a narrow suture with the frontal; the latter as long as frontoparietal and parietals together, in contact with the first, second, and third supraoculars; 4 large supraoculars, followed by 2 very small ones; first supraocular not much longer than second; 9 or 10 supracilianes, first largest; frontoparietals and interparietal distinct, former a little longer than latter; parietals forming a short suture behind the interparietal; no nuchals; fifth and sixth upper labials largest and below the eye. Ear-opening oval, smaller than eye-opening; no auricular lobules. 36 or 38 smooth scales round the middle of the body, laterals smallest. A pair of large pre-anals. When the limbs are pressed against the body, the hind limb reaches the elbow or not quite so far. Digits rather elongate, compressed; subdigital lamellae smooth or obtusely keeled, 17 to 20 under the fourth toe. Tail almost twice as long as head and body. Brown or olive above, uniform or with scattered darker dots; sides of head and body dark brown, light-margined above; usually with large light spots; lower surface whitish.
From snout to vent 3.5 inches; tail 6.

Distribution

S China (incl. Hainan, west to E Xizang = Tibet

Tibet

Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

, and north to Henan, Shaanxi, and Gansu, Guangdong: Nan Ao Island), Bhutan

Bhutan

Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...

,
Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 (likely in Bilauk Tuang mountain fide Taylor 1963: 1020), Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

,
India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 (Darjeeling, Sikkim) east to Indochina

Indochina

The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...

 and south to W Malaysia

Type locality: Sikkim, Himalayas.

External links

• http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Sphenomorphus_indicus.jpg
• http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Sphenomorphus_indicus2.jpg
• http://itgmv1.fzk.de/www/itg/uetz/herp/photos/Sphenomorphus_indicus3.jpg