NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Lined Supple Skink
Riopa lineata (Gray, 1839)
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
Riopa lineata, the lined writhing skink or lined supple skink, is a species of writhing skink. It is known from India (the northern Western Ghats), Bangladesh and Myanmar (= Burma). This skink grows to about 6 cm in length. The body colouration is golden and each scale has a black dot forming longitudinal stripes on the body. It is known to occur from Gujarat to north of Karnataka. In Mumbai this skink has been observed in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and Aarey milk colony. It is often found under rocks, loose soil associated with termite mounds and ant hills. It is crepuscular. A captive individual accepted termites, mosquito, house flies, ant eggs for about 45 days and was released.
Wikipedia contributors, Riopa lineata; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:14:46.811772+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Riopa lineata (Gray, 1839)
- Name authority
- (Gray, 1839)
- Common name
- Lined Supple Skink
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Scincidae
- Genus
- Riopa
- 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
- subfamilyLygosominae
- genusRiopa
- speciesRiopa lineata (Gray, 1839)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Riopa. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| White-spotted Supple SkinkRiopa albopunctata Gray, 1846 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Riopa anguina Theobald, 1868 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Günther's Writhing SkinkRiopa guentheri (Peters, 1879) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Striped Writhing SkinkRiopa lineolata Stoliczka, 1870 | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Common Dotted Garden SkinkRiopa punctata (Linnaeus, 1758) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Vosmer's Writhing SkinkRiopa vosmaerii (Gray, 1839) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Deccan Gracile SkinkRiopa deccanensis Bhupathi, Ray, Karuthapandi, Jaiswal, Deepak & Mohapatra, 2025 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Chiamela lineata Gray, 1839 Gray, 1839 | 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=Riopa&species=lineata 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:8JF3J. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.