Biology:Prasinohaema
| Prasinohaema | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Scincidae |
| Subfamily: | Sphenomorphinae |
| Genus: | Prasinohaema Greer, 1974 |
Prasinohaema (Greek: "green blood") is a genus of skinks characterized by having green blood. This condition is caused by an excess buildup of the bile pigment biliverdin. [1] Prasinohaema species have plasma biliverdin concentrations approximately 1.5-30 times greater than fish species with green blood plasma and 40 times greater than humans with green jaundice.[1] The benefit provided by the high pigment concentration is unknown, but one possibility is that it protects against malaria.[2][3]
Geographic range
Species in the genus Prasinohaema are endemic to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.[4]
Species
Species in the genus include:[4]
- Prasinohaema flavipes (Parker, 1936) – common green tree skink
- Prasinohaema parkeri (M.A. Smith, 1937) – Parker's green tree skink
- Prasinohaema prehensicauda (Loveridge, 1945) – prehensile green tree skink
- Prasinohaema semoni (Oudemans, 1894) – Semon's green tree skink
- Prasinohaema virens (W. Peters, 1881) - green-blooded skink, green tree skink
Nota bene: A binomial authority in parentheses indicates that the species was originally described in a genus other than Prasinohaema.
Etymology
The specific names, parkeri and semoni, are in honor of English herpetologist Hampton Wildman Parker and German zoologist Richard Wolfgang Semon, respectively.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Austin, Christopher C.; Jessing, Kevin W. (1994). "Green-blood pigmentation in lizards". Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Physiology 109 (3): 619–626. doi:10.1016/0300-9629(94)90201-1.
- ↑ Grens, Kerry (2018-05-16). "Lizards' Green Blood Evolved Four Times". https://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/54596/title/Lizards--Green-Blood-Evolved-Four-Times/.
- ↑ Malhotra, Anita (23 May 2018). "Some lizards have green blood that should kill them – and scientists can't work out why". The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/lizards-green-blood-scientists-unsure-biliverdin-jaundice-biology-a8357396.html.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Genus Prasinohaema at The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.
- ↑ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN:978-1-4214-0135-5. (Prasinohaema parkeri, p. 200; P. semoni, p. 240).
Further reading
- Greer AE (1974). "The genetic relationships of the Scincid lizard genus Leiolopisma and its relatives". Australian J. Zool. Supplementary Series 22 (31): 1-67. (Prasinohaema, new genus, p. 12).
External links
- Prasinohaema in the Reptile Database.
- Green Blood episode in O'Shea's Big Adventure.
Wikidata ☰ Q1757461 entry
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