Feylinia Explained

Feylinia is a genus of skinks (family Scincidae). It is usually placed in the monotypic^[1] subfamily Feylininae.

However, it appears to be not as distinct as formerly presumed, but rather somewhat closer to such genera as Chalcides and Sepsina. These are usually placed in the subfamily Scincinae, which seems to be paraphyletic however.

Feylinia belongs to a major clade which does not seem to include the Scincinae type genus Scincus. Thus, it will probably be eventually assigned to a new, yet-to-be-named subfamily. (Austin & Arnold 2006)

Species

The following six species are recognized.^[2]

• Feylinia boulengeri
• Feylinia currori - western forest feylinia
• Feylinia elegans - elegant feylinia
• Feylinia grandisquamis - large-scaled burrowing skink
• Feylinia macrolepis
• Feylinia polylepis - manyscaled feylinia

Further reading

• (2006). "Using ancient and recent DNA to explore relationships of extinct and endangered Leiolopisma skinks (Reptilia: Scincidae) in the Mascarene islands". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39 (2): 503–511. (HTML abstract)

Notes and References

1. Faizi H, Rastegar-Pouyani N, Rastegar-Pouyani E, Heidari N. 15 July 2016. Systematics of the genera Eumeces Wiegmann, 1834 and Eurylepis Blyth 1854 (Sauria: Scincidae) in Iran: A review. Iranian Journal of Animal Biosystematics (IJAB). 12. 2. 225.
2. www.reptile-database.org.