Eastern mourning skink

The eastern mourning skink (Lissolepis coventryi), also known commonly as Coventry's spinytail skink and the swamp skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to Australia.

Eastern mourning skink
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Scincidae
Genus:	Lissolepis
Species:	L. coventryi
Binomial name
Lissolepis coventryi (Storr, 1978)
Synonyms[2]
Egernia coventryi Storr, 1978 Lissolepis coventryi — Gardner et al., 2008

Etymology

The specific name, coventryi, is in honor of Australian herpetologist Albert John Coventry.^[3]

Geographic range

L. coventryi is found in the Australian states of South Australia, Victoria, and possibly New South Wales.^[2]

Habitat

The preferred natural habitat of L. coventryi is freshwater wetlands such as marshes and swamps.^[1]

Description

L. coventryi has an average snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 8 cm (3.1 in), with a long tail, which is almost one and a half times SVL.^[4]

Reproduction

L. coventryi is viviparous.^[2]

References

1. Gillespie, G.; Clemann, N.; Robertson, P.; Melville, J.; Michael, D.; Hutchinson, M.; Chapple, D.C. [sic] (2018). "Lissolepis coventryi ". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T109480101A109480110.en.
2. Lissolepis coventryi at the Reptarium.cz Reptile Database. Accessed 1 January 2019.
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. (Egernia coventryi, p. 60).
4. Storr GM (1978).

Further reading

• Cogger HG (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. ISBN 978-0643100350.
• Storr GM (1978). "The genus Egernia (Lacertilia, Scincidae) in Western Australia". Records of the Western Australian Museum 6 (2): 147–187. (Egernia coventryi, new species, pp. 175–177, Plate 1).
• Wilson S, Swan G (2013). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia, Fourth Edition. Sydney: New Holland Publishers. 522 pp. ISBN 978-1921517280.