NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Common Dotted Garden Skink
Riopa punctata (Linnaeus, 1758)
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 punctata, also known as the common dotted garden skink, common snake skink, punctate supple skink, or spotted supple skink is a species of skink found in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
Wikipedia contributors, Riopa punctata; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:43:29.004819+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Riopa punctata (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Common Dotted Garden 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 punctata (Linnaeus, 1758)
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 |
| Lined Supple SkinkRiopa lineata (Gray, 1839) | ScincidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Striped Writhing SkinkRiopa lineolata Stoliczka, 1870 | 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 |
|---|---|
| Mabuya elegans Gray, 1845 Gray, 1845 | synonym |
| Seps scincoides Cuvier, 1829 Cuvier, 1829 | synonym |
| Lacerta punctata Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
| Riopa hardwickii Gray, 1845 Gray, 1845 | 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=punctata 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:8JF3Q. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.