#saiphos

Yellow-belly Three-toed Skink (Saiphos equalis), family Scincidae, found in eastern Australia

The only species in this genus.

Coastal populations reproduce by laying eggs (oviparity), and mountain populations reproduce through live birth (viviparity).

Hoser, R. T. 2022. The inevitable further break up of the monotypic Australian skink genus Saiphos Gray, 1831. Australasian Journal of Herpetology 58:6-15. Published 28 June 2022.

From Hoser, R. T. 2022. The inevitable further break up of the monotypic Australian skink genus Saiphos Gray, 1831. Australasian Journal of Herpetology 58:6-15. Published 28 June 2022 Etymology: S. wellsi sp. nov. is named in honour of Australian herpetologist, Richard Wells, recently of Lismore, New South Wales, Australia, in recognition for his services to herpetology and zoology globally, including his strong advocacy against taxonomic vandalism as practiced by Welsh criminal Wolfgang Wüster and his gang of thieves as detailed by Cogger (2014), Hoser (2007, 2009, 2012a, 2012c, 2013, 2015a-f, 2017, 2019a, 2019b), Hawkeswood (2021), ICZN (1991, 2001, 2021) and sources cited therein. Besides the association of Richard Wells with the exact area this species occurs, it is also noted that along with his colleague, Cliff Ross Wellington, they formally named another species in this complex, namely S. samueli Wells and Wellington, 1985 since shown by Smith et al. (2001) using molecular techniques to be a valid species-level taxon. Richard Wells is also by far the largest ever benefactor with respect of collecting and donating reptiles to the Australian Museum in Sydney, having donated many thousands of specimens to their priceless research collection spanning fulltime work over many decades. He has received few if any accolades for this achievement.