Otosaurus Explained

Otosaurus cumingii, commonly called Cuming's sphenomorphus or the Luzon giant forest skink, is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to the Philippines.

Etymology

The specific name, cumingii, is in honor of English naturalist Hugh Cuming.^[1]

O. cumingii is found up to 1000m (3,000feet) above sea level in the forests throughout most of the Philippines.

The Luzon giant forest skink reaches a total length (including tail) of 35 cm (14 inches).

O. cumingii tends to hide under leaves and logs.

Boulenger GA (1887). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume III. ... Scincidæ ... London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 575 pp. + Plates I-XL. (Lygosoma cumingii, p. 249 + Plate XVI, figure 2).
Gray JE (1845). Catalogue of the Specimens of Lizards in the Collection of the British Museum. London: Trustees of the British Museum. (Edward Newman, printer). xxviii + 289 pp. (Otosaurus cumingii, new species, p. 93).
Linkem CW, Diesmos AC, Brown RM (2011). "Molecular systematics of the Philippine forest skinks (Squamata: Scincidae: Sphenomorphus): testing morphological hypotheses of interspecific relationships". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 163: 1217–1243. (Otosaurus cumingii, new combination).