Ristella guentheri, commonly known as Günther's ristella and Gunther's cat skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to India.
Etymology The specific name, guentheri, is in honor of German-British herpetologist Albert Günther.Beolens, Bo;Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Ristella guentheri, pp. 110-111).
Geographic range R. guentheri is found in India, in Madurai district, Tenmalai, Travancore, and the Anaimalai Hills. www.reptile-database.org.
The type locality is "Madura, Sirimallay Hills"Boulenger GA (1887). Catalogue of the Lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second Edition. Volume III. Lacertidæ, Gerrhosauridæ, Scincidæ, Anelytropsidæ, Dibamidæ, Chamaeleontidæ. London: Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). (Taylor and Francis, printers). xii + 575 pp. + Plates I- XL. (Ristella guentheri, new species, p. 358 + Plate XXIX, Figures 3, 3a). (= Sirumalai Hills, Madurai district).
Habitat The preferred natural habitat of R. guentheri is forest, at altitudes of .
Description R. guentheri may attain a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of . It has 22 or 24 scales around the middle of the body. It is reddish brown dorsally, and whitish ventrally.
Reproduction R. guentheri is oviparous.
References
Further reading Boulenger GA (1890). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Batrachia. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xviii + 541 pp. (Ristella guentheri, p. 216). Das I (1997). "Checklist of the Reptiles of India, with English common names". Hamadryad 22 (1): 32–45. Palot MJ (2015). "A checklist of reptiles of Kerala, India". Journal of Threatened Taxa 7 (13): 8010–8022. Smith MA (1935). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. II.—Sauria. London: Secretary of State for India in Council. (Taylor and Francis, printers). xiii + 440 pp. + Plate I + 2 maps. (Ristella guentheri, p. 332).