NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Shrubland Morethia Skink
Morethia obscura Storr, 1972
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Little Desert, Vic.
Matt from Melbourne, Australia · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The shrubland Morethia skink (Morethia obscura) is a species of skink endemic to Australia, of the family Scincidae, found in New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria (Australia), Western Australia in Australia.
Wikipedia contributors, Morethia obscura; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T10:55:22.658839+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Morethia obscura Storr, 1972
- Name authority
- Storr, 1972
- Common name
- Shrubland Morethia Skink
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Scincidae
- Genus
- Morethia
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classReptilia Laurenti, 1768
- orderSquamata Oppel, 1811
- suborderAutarchoglossa
- familyScincidae
- subfamilyEugongylinae
- genusMorethia
- speciesMorethia obscura Storr, 1972
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Morethia. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| West Coast Morethia SkinkMorethia lineoocellata (Duméril & Bibron, 1839) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Lined Firetail SkinkMorethia ruficauda (Lucas & Frost, 1895) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Top End Firetail SkinkMorethia storri Greer, 1981 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Fire-Tailed SkinkMorethia taeniopleura (Peters, 1874) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Saltbush Morethia SkinkMorethia adelaidensis (Peters, 1874) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| South-eastern Morethia SkinkMorethia boulengeri (Ogilby, 1890) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Woodland Morethia SkinkMorethia butleri (Storr, 1963) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Morethia anomalus Gray, 1845 Gray, 1845 | ambiguous synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/species?genus=Morethia&species=obscura Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:44D7P. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.