Kingdom Animalia Class Reptilia Family Scincidae Rank Genus | Phylum Chordata Order Squamata Subfamily see text | |
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Similar Melanoseps, Feylinia, Pygomeles, Gongylomorphus | ||
Sepsina is a genus of skinks (family Scincidae). The genus is endemic to southern Africa.
Contents
Taxonomy
This genus is presently placed in the subfamily Scincinae, a subfamily which seems to be paraphyletic however. Sepsina belongs to a major clade of this group which does not seem to include the type genus Scincus. Thus, it will probably be eventually assigned to a new, yet-to-be-named subfamily.
Species
The following five species are recognized:
Etymology
The specific name, bayoni, is in honor of Francisco Antonio Pinheiro Bayão, a Portuguese planter in Angola, who collected the holotype.
The specific name, copei, is in honor of American herpetologist and paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope.
Unfortunately, Hewitt did not explain to whom the specific name, alberti, refers. It may be in honor of Albert I of Belgium, or Belgian-British herpetologist George Albert Boulenger, or an altogether different unsung Albert.