Prasinohaema
Genus of lizards
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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]
| Prasinohaema | |
|---|---|
| |
| Geographic distribution of Prasinohaema flavipes | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Family: | Scincidae |
| Subfamily: | Sphenomorphinae |
| Genus: | Prasinohaema Greer, 1974 |
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]