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Eutropis multifasciata
	In Danum Valley Conservation Area, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Reptilia
Order:	Squamata
Family:	Scincidae
Genus:	Eutropis
Species:	E. multifasciata
Binomial name
	Eutropis multifasciata; (Kuhl, 1820)
Synonyms
	Mabuya multifasciata Fitzinger, 1826; Scincus multifasciatus Kuhl, 1820;

Eutropis multifasciata, commonly known as the East Indian brown mabuya, many-lined sun skink, many-striped skink, common sun skink or (ambiguously) as golden skink, is a species of skink that inhabits an extensive range from India and southern China to southern Indonesia.

Description

See Snake scales for terminology.

Their snout is moderate to obtuse, and their lower eyelid is scaly. The nostril is positioned behind the vertical line of the suture between the rostral and first labial scale. It has a postnasal scale. The anterior loreal scale is not deeper than the second, and it is in contact with the first labial scale. The supranasal scales are largely in contact behind the rostral. The frontonasal scale is broader than it is long, and the prefrontals consistently form a median suture; the frontal is as long as or shorter than the frontoparietals and interparietal together, and makes contact with the second (and occaisionally the first) supraocular. There are four supraoculars, the second of which is largest, and six supraciliaries, the first of which is largest. There are distinct fronto-parietal scales, larger than the interparietal, completely separating the parietals. There are a pair of nuchals and four labials anterior to the subocular, which is large and not narrower below. The ear-opening is roundish or oval and is as large as a lateral scale, or a little smaller, with or without a few very small lobules anteriorly. The dorsal scales are more or less distinctly tri-(rarely quinque-) carinate: the nuchals and laterals are usually very feebly keeled and are sometimes smooth. There are 30 to 34 scales around the middle of the body, and the subequal or dorsals are largest. The hind limb reaches the wrist or the elbow of the adpressed forelimb. The subdigital lamellae are smooth. The scales on the upper surface of the tibia are mostly tricarinate. The tail is 1.3 to 1.6 times the length of the head and body. They are brown or olive above; some specimens are uniformly coloured, while others have a large whitish/red patch on either side of their bodies. Their backs have small black spots, sometimes confluenting into longitudinal lines. The sides are usually dark brown, with whitish, black-edged ocelli; a well-defined light dorso-lateral band is very occasionally present, and the lower surfaces are yellowish or greenish white.^[3]

Distribution

The species is widely present in southern Asia and occurs from India (Assam and the Nicobar islands) and southern China throughout continental Southeast Asia to southern Indonesia, with scattered records from New Guinea. It has been introduced to Australia and the USA.^[1]

Invasive species

Taiwan

Eutropis multifasciata was first observed in Taiwan in 1992, in the southern Kaohsiung area.^[4] It has since spread northward and established populations in the central-western and south-western lowlands.^[5] The species has successfully adapted to Taiwan's agricultural areas, open forests, and human-disturbed areas.^[5] It's high fecundity (reproductive ability) has enabled it to compete with other species for resources.^[6] This is likely the cause of the decline in the populations of indigenous lizard species that occupy the same habitats as Eutropis multifasciata.^[6] Since this species has a poor cold tolerance, its elevational distribution in Taiwan is restricted below 500 meters.^[7] However, it is expected that in response to rising temperatures associated with climate change, this species will benefit from increased maximum activity time.^[5] As a result, distribution of this species is expected to expand from lowland areas to higher elevations, especially if the landscape becomes more open.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b Shea, G.; Allison, A.; Tallowin, O.; McGuire, J.; Iskandar, D.; Cai, B.; Wang, Y.; Yang, J.; Shang, G. (2018). "Eutropis multifasciata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T195295A2376842. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T195295A2376842.en. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
^ "Eutropis multifasciata (Kuhl, 1820)". The Reptile Database; reptarium.cz. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
^ Boulenger, G. A. (1890). "Reptilia and Batrachia". Fauna of British India.
^ Ota, H.; Chang, H.W.; Liu, K.C.; Hikida, T. (1994). "A new record of the viviparous skink, Mabuya multifasciata (Kuhl, 1820) (Squamata: Reptilia), from Taiwan". Zool. Stud. 33: 86–89.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Chen, T.Y.; Richard, R.; Lin, T.E.; Huang, S.P. (2021). "Landscape forest impacts the potential activity time of an invasive lizard and its possibilities for range expansion in Taiwan under climate warming". J. Therm. Biol. 98: 102948. doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2021.102948. PMID 34016365. S2CID 234875549.
^ ^a ^b Lee, K.H.; Chen, T.H.; Shang, G.; Clulow, S.; Yang, Y.J.; Lin, S.M. (2019). "A check list and population trends of invasive amphibians and reptiles in Taiwan". ZooKeys (829): 85–130. doi:10.3897/zookeys.829.27535. PMC 6422934. PMID 30914838.
^ Lin, T.E.; Chen, T.Y.; Wei, H.L.; Richard, R.; Huang, S.P. (2019). "Low cold tolerance of the invasive lizard Eutropis multifasciata constrains its potential elevation distribution in Taiwan". J. Therm. Biol. 82: 115–122. doi:10.1016/j.jtherbio.2019.03.015. PMID 31128639. S2CID 132427936.

Annandale, Nelson (1905). "Contributions to Oriental Herpetology. Suppl. III. Notes on the Oriental lizards in the Indian Museum, with a list of the species recorded from British India and Ceylon". J. Asiat. Soc. Bengal. 2 (1): 139–151.
Gray, J. E. (1853). "Descriptions of some undescribed species of reptiles collected by Dr. Joseph Hooker in the Khassia Mountains, East Bengal, and Sikkim Himalaya". Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 2 (12): 386–392. doi:10.1080/00222936808695825.
Kuhl, H. (1820). Kuhl, H. (ed.). "Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Amphibien". Beiträge zur Zoologie und Vergleichenden Anatomie (in German). Frankfurt a.M.: Hermannsche Buchhandlung: 75–132.
Mausfeld, P.; Vences, M.; Schmitz, A.; Veith, M. (2000). "First data on the molecular phylogeography of scincid lizards of the genus Mabuya". Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 17 (1): 11–14. doi:10.1006/mpev.2000.0809. PMID 11020300.
Mausfeld, Patrick; Schmitz, Andreas (2003). "Molecular phylogeography, intraspecific variation and speciation of the Asian scincid lizard genus Eutropis Fitzinger, 1843 (Squamata: Reptilia: Scincidae): taxonomic and biogeographic implications". Org. Divers. Evol. 3: 161–171. doi:10.1078/1439-6092-00068.