Scincidae

Skinks are lizards that constitute the family Scincidae, which is part of the infraorder Scincomorpha. With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Skinks are characterized by their smaller legs in comparison to typical lizards and are found in different habitats except arctic and subarctic regions.

Scincidae

Charles J. Sharp · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
skinkPBDB
Sits inside
ScincoideaPBDB
Diet
insectivorePBDB
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Amniota

Time the record covers

At least 83 million years on record.

The record covers at least 83.6 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 85.7 Mya to 0 Mya.

Late Cretaceous — about 6 of 193 occurrencesLate CretaceousPaleocene — about 1 of 193 occurrencesPaleoceneEocene — about 9 of 193 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 6 of 193 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 63 of 193 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 11 of 193 occurrencesPleistocene — about 63 of 193 occurrences87–85 Mya — about 1 occurrence85–82 Mya — about 1 occurrence82–79 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences79–76 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences76–73 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences73–70 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences70–67 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences67–64 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences61–58 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences58–55 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences55–52 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences52–50 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences50–47 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences44–41 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences41–38 Mya — about 2 occurrences38–35 Mya — about 4 occurrences35–32 Mya — about 2 occurrences32–29 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences29–26 Mya — about 2 occurrences26–23 Mya — about 4 occurrences23–20 Mya — about 1 occurrence20–17 Mya — about 5 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 22 occurrences15–12 Mya — about 14 occurrences12–8.7 Mya — about 13 occurrences8.7–5.8 Mya — about 7 occurrences5.8–2.9 Mya — about 10 occurrences2.9–0 Mya — about 98 occurrences83.6 Mya11.7 ka87 Mya0 Mya

193 occurrences of Scincidae on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

193 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

36 formations

Upper Freshwater Molasse — 48.44°N, 11.04°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.66°N, 10.23°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.63°N, 11.80°EUpper Freshwater Molasse — 48.17°N, 10.10°EValentine — 42.78°N, 100.03°WValentine — 42.81°N, 100.05°WValentine — 42.49°N, 98.11°WNamba — 31.10°S, 140.23°EAsh Hollow — 43.40°N, 100.60°WAsh Hollow — 42.30°N, 98.00°WBannockburn — 44.91°S, 169.86°EAguja — 29.32°N, 103.52°WFleming — 30.50°N, 95.00°WFleming — 30.68°N, 95.05°WCrooked Creek — 37.20°N, 100.30°WMilk River — 49.10°N, 111.80°WRexroad — 37.20°N, 100.30°WRexroad — 37.10°N, 100.90°WMcPherson — 38.30°N, 97.60°WLaa — 48.37°N, 16.35°EColombacci — 44.22°N, 11.77°EMazaterón — 41.53°N, 2.12°WBidahochi — 35.80°N, 110.10°WFort Randall — 43.10°N, 98.30°WOgallala — 39.08°N, 99.75°WLong Pine — 42.38°N, 98.23°WTorreya — 30.50°N, 84.50°WHarrison — 42.80°N, 100.80°WKingsdown — 37.20°N, 100.30°WHillgrove — 45.13°S, 170.97°EPerfugas — 40.72°N, 9.10°EDinosaur Park — 49.96°N, 110.27°W

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The named rock units Scincidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 12 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 131 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Scincidae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Scincidae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

2,735 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 145 sites for Scincidae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

113 references

Each of the 193 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 101 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Scincidae

Credit
Charles J. Sharp
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Scincidae indet. · wihg:wimf/a:4722

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itScincoidea through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Gray 1825