Lerista karlschmidti, also known commonly as the lesser robust fine-lined slider, Karl's lerista, and Karl Schmidt's lerista, is a species of skink, a lizard in the subfamily Sphenomorphinae of the family Scincidae. The species is native to the Northern Territory and Queensland in Australia. Its range is highly disjunct and it is likely that only the Queensland population (not seen after its original collection) represents L. karlschmidti, while the Northern Territory population is a distinct species.
Etymology The specific name, karlschmidti, is in honor of American herpetologist Karl Patterson Schmidt.Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Lerista karlschmidti, p. 138).
Habitat The preferred natural habitats of L. karlschmidti are sandy desert, rocky areas, and dry forest.
Description L. karlschmidti may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of . It has 16–20 scale rows at midbody, two loreal scales, but no superciliary scales. It has no front legs. Each back leg is a stump with one clawed digit.Wilson S, Swan G (2023). A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia, Sixth Edition. Sydney: Reed New Holland Publishers. 688 pp. . (Lerista karlschmidti, pp. 370–371).
Reproduction L. karlschmidti is oviparous, and breeds during the dry season.
References
Further reading Cogger HG (2014). Reptiles and Amphibians of Australia, Seventh Edition. Clayton, Victoria, Australia: CSIRO Publishing. xxx + 1,033 pp. . Greer AE (1967). "A New Generic Arrangement for some Australian Scincid Lizards". Breviora (267): 1–19. (Lerista karlschmidti, new combination, p. 19). Marx H, Hosmer W (1959). "A New Skink from Australia". Copeia 1959 (3): 207–208. (Rhodona karlschmidti, new species).