Subdoluseps pruthi, known commonly as Pruthi's skink or Pruthi's supple skink, is a species of diurnal, terrestrial, insectivorous, lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to the southern part of the Eastern Ghats in South India. The species was first described based on the type specimen from Chitteri hills in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu. Further surveys reveal the presence of similar-looking skinks in nearby hill ranges. Though described in 1977, the holotype was collected in 1929, and yet very little is known or has been published about this species.
| Subdoluseps pruthi | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Scincidae |
| Genus: | Subdoluseps |
| Species: | S. pruthi
|
| Binomial name | |
| Subdoluseps pruthi (Sharma, 1977)
| |
| Synonyms[2] | |
Etymology
editThe specific name, pruthi, is in honor of Indian entomologist Hem Singh Pruthi (1897–1969), who collected the holotype from Chitteri Hills of central Tamil Nadu.[3]
Geographic range
editS. pruthi is found in the southern part of the Eastern Ghats in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu, in South India. This species has been sighted in other ranges of the Eastern Ghats in Tamil Nadu. Further work is necessary to fully chart its geographic range.[2]
Habitat
editThe preferred natural habitat of S. pruthi is forest, at altitudes around 250 m (820 ft).[1]
Reproduction
editS. pruthi is viviparous. [4]
References
edit- ^ a b Srinivasulu C, Srinivasulu B (2013). "Subdoluseps pruthi ". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T172583A1346440.en. Accessed on 17 February 2024.
- ^ a b Species Subdoluseps pruthi at The Reptile Database . www.reptile-database.org.
- ^ Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Lygosoma pruthi, p. 212).
- ^ Agarwal et al., 2024.
Further reading
edit- Agarwal I, Thackeray T, Khandekar A (2024). "A non-adaptive radiation of viviparous skinks from the seasonal tropics of India: Systematics of Subdoluseps (Squamata: Scincidae), with description of a new genus and five cryptic new species". Vertebrate Zoology 74: 23–83. (Dravidoseps pruthi, new combination).
- Sharma RC (1977). "A new lizard of the genus Riopa Gray (Scincidae) from Tamil Nadu, India". Records of the Zoological Survey of India 73 (1-4): 41–42. (Riopa pruthi, new species).
- Das I (2003). "Growth of Knowledge on the Reptiles of India, with an Introduction to Systematics, Taxonomy and Nomenclature". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 100 (2-3): 446–502.
- Datta-Roy A, Singh M, Karanth KP (2014). "Phylogeny of endemic skinks of the genus Lygosoma (Squamata: Scincidae) from India suggests an in situ radiation". Journal of Genetics 93 (1): 163–167. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-014-0321-z
- Freitas ES, Datta-Roy A, Karanth P, Grismer LL, Siler CD (2019). "Multilocus phylogeny and a new classification for African, Asian and Indian supple and writhing skinks (Scincidae: Lygosomonae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 186 (4): 1067–1096. (Subdoluseps pruthi, new combination, p. 1088).
- Ganesh SR, Arumugam M (2016). "Species Richness of Montane Herpetofauna of Southern Eastern Ghats, India: A Historical Resume and a Descriptive Checklist". Russian Journal of Herpetology 23 (1): 7-24.