NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Arnhem Land Gorges Skink
Bellatorias obiri (Wells & Wellington, 1985)
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Arnhem Land Gorges skink (Bellatorias obiri) is a species of skink, a lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is native to Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.
The Arnhem Land Gorges skink was first noted to be distinct in 1974 by Harold Cogger, who called it Egernia cf. frerei. Australian herpetologists Richard W. Wells and C. Ross Wellington described Hortonia obiri in 1985 from a specimen in the Northern Territory Museum in Darwin that had been collected 3 km southwest of Gunbalanya (formerly known as Oenpelli) by Brian Jukes on 28 July 1975. Ross Sadlier called it Egernia arnhemensis in 1990.
Wikipedia contributors, Arnhem Land Gorges skink; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:40:48.953597+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Bellatorias obiri (Wells & Wellington, 1985)
- Name authority
- (Wells & Wellington, 1985)
- Common name
- Arnhem Land Gorges Skink
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Scincidae
- Genus
- Bellatorias
- 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
- subfamilyEgerniinae
- genusBellatorias
- speciesBellatorias obiri (Wells & Wellington, 1985)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Bellatorias. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Land MulletBellatorias major (Gray, 1845) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Major SkinkBellatorias frerei (Günther, 1897) | 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 |
|---|---|
| Hortonia obiri Wells & Wellington, 1985 Wells & Wellington, 1985 | synonym |
| Egernia arnhemensis Sadlier, 1990 Sadlier, 1990 | 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=Bellatorias&species=obiri 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:5WGNM. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.