Liopholis is a genus of lizards in the subfamily Egerniinae of the family Scincidae (skinks). Species of the genus are found in the Australian region. They were previously placed in the genus Egernia.
Description Liopholis are smallish to largish-sized skinks. They may attain an adult snout-to-vent length (SVL) of , with a bulky angular body. They have 34–52 rows of scales at midbody; the dorsal scales are usually smooth. The nasal scale has no postnarial groove; the subocular scale row is incomplete. The eyes are relatively large, and the eyelids usually have conspicuous cream-coloured margins.
Species There are 15 recognized species: Image Scientific name Common name Distribution Liopholis aputja Farquhar et al., 2024 Central Ranges rock skinkNorth-western South Australia. Liopholis guthega Donnellan, Hutchinson, Dempsey & Osborne, 2002 Snowy Mountains skink, guthega skink, alpine egerniasouth-eastern Australia. Liopholis inornata (Rosén, 1905) desert egernia, unadorned desert-skink, "desert skink"central Western Australia, most of inland South Australia, southern Northern Territory, south-west Queensland, western New South Wales and a small part of north-west Victoria Liopholis kintorei (Stirling & Zietz, 1893) Great Desert skinkNorthern Territory and Western Australia. Liopholis margaretae (Storr, 1968) MacDonnell Ranges rock-skink, Flinder's Ranges rock-skinkcentral Australia. Liopholis modesta (Storr, 1968) Eastern Ranges rock-skink eastern Australia Liopholis montana Donnellan, Hutchinson, Dempsey & Osborne, 2002 montane rock-skink, mountain egernia, "mountain skink"south-eastern Australia Liopholis multiscutata (Mitchell & Behrndt, 1949) bull skink, southern sand-skink, heath skink southern Australia Liopholis parva (Aplin et al., 2024) north-western Australia Liopholis personata (Storr, 1968) southern Australia Liopholis pulchra (F. Werner, 1910) southwestern rock-skink, spectacled rock skink, Jurien Bay rock-skinksouth-western Australia Liopholis purnululu (Aplin et al., 2024) north-western Australia Liopholis slateri (Storr, 1968) Slater's desert skink, Centralian Floodplains desert-skink, Slater's egernia, Slater's skink Northern Territory and Southern Australia in central Australia Liopholis striata (Sternfeld, 1919) night skink, nocturnal desert-skink, striated egerniawestern Australia Liopholis whitii (Lacépède, 1804) White's skink, White's rock-skink south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania and many Bass Strait islands
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Liopholis.
References
Further reading Fitzinger L (1843). Systema Reptilium, Fasciculus Primus, Amblyglossae. Vienna: Braumüller & Seidel. 106 pp. + indices. (Liopholis, new genus, p. 22). (in Latin).