{{Short description|Species of lizard}} {{Speciesbox | image = Scincella gemmingeri imported from iNaturalist photo 27161175 on 23 June 2020.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | genus = Scincella | species = gemmingeri | authority = ([[Edward Drinker Cope|Cope]], 1864) | range_map = Scincella gemmingeri distribution.png | synonyms = *''Oligosoma gemmingeri'' <br />{{small|Cope, 1864}} *''Lygosoma (Mocoa) gemmingeri'' <br />{{small|— [[Marie Firmin Bocourt|Bocourt]], 1881}} *''Lygosoma laterale'' (part) <br />{{small|— [[George Albert Boulenger|Boulenger]], 1887}} *''Leiolopisma gemmingeri'' <br />{{small|— [[Edward Harrison Taylor|Taylor]], 1937}} *''Scincella gemmingeri'' <br />{{small|— [[Hobart Muir Smith|H.M. Smith]] & Taylor, 1950}} | synonyms_ref = <ref name=RDB>{{EMBL species|genus=Scincella|species=gemmingeri}} www.reptile-database.org.</ref> |status_ref=<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Canseco-Márquez, L. |author-link=species:Luis Canseco-Márquez |date=2007 |title=''Scincella gemmingeri '' |volume=2007 |article-number=e.T64244A12758098 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2007.RLTS.T64244A12758098.en |access-date=20 November 2021}}</ref> }}

'''''Scincella gemmingeri''''', [[Common name|commonly]] known as the '''forest ground skink''', '''Cope's forest ground skink''', and '''''la escíncela de bosque de Cope''''' in Mexican Spanish, is a [[species]] of [[lizard]] in the [[Family (taxonomy)|family]] [[Scincidae]]. The species is [[Endemism|endemic]] to [[Mexico]].

==Etymology== The [[Specific name (zoology)|specific name]], ''gemmingeri'', is in honor of [[Germans|German]] [[Coleopterology|coleopterist]] [[species:Max Gemminger|Max Gemminger]] (1820–1887).<ref>[[species:Bo Beolens|Beolens, Bo]]; [[species:Michael Watkins|Watkins, Michael]]; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. {{ISBN|978-1-4214-0135-5}}. (''Scincella gemmingeri'', p. 99).</ref>

==Geographic range== ''S. gemmingeri'' is found in the coastal regions of the [[Mexico|Mexican]] state of [[Veracruz]] and various surrounding states.<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021"/>

==Habitat== As its common name implies, the forest ground skink occurs primarily in [[forest]]s, especially [[rainforest]]s, [[oak]] forests, [[cloud forest]]s, and [[Tropical and subtropical coniferous forests|tropical evergreen forests]], at altitudes of {{cvt|200|–|2,000|m|ft}}, although it is also sometimes found on [[pasture]]land.<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021"/>

==Conservation status== ''S. gemmingeri'' faced no major threats as of 2020.<ref name="iucn status 20 November 2021"/>

==Reproduction== ''S. gemmingeri'' is [[Ovoviparity|ovoviparous]].<ref name=RDB/>

==Description== Like all members of the [[genus]] ''Scincella'', ''S. gemmingeri'' is long and cylindrical, with short limbs. Its color is dark gray, and it has a dark stripe originating at the snout and running dorsolaterally along its body. Its maximum snout-vent length (SVL) is about {{convert|45|mm|in|abbr=on}}.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *[[Edward Drinker Cope|Cope ED]] (1864). "Contributions to the Herpetology of Tropical America". ''Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia'' '''16''': 166-181. (''Oligosoma gemmingeri'', new species, p.&nbsp;180). *[[species:Uri Omar García-Vázquez|García-Vásquez, Uri]]; [[species:Manuel Feria-Ortiz|Feria-Ortiz, Manuel]] (2006). "Skinks of Mexico". ''Reptilia'' (49): 74-79. *García-Vázquez UO, [[species:Andrés Alberto Mendoza-Hernández|Mendoza-Hernández AA]] (2007). "''Scincella gemmingeri''. Geographic Distribution". ''Herpetological Review'' '''38''' (2): 218–220. *Perea-Pérez, A.; Peralta-Hernández, R.; García-Vázquez, U.O. (2019). "Reproduction. ''Scincella gemmingeri'' (Cope's Forest Ground Skink)". ''Herpetological Review'' '''50''' (4): 791.

{{Taxonbar|from=Q246204}}

[[Category:Scincella|gemmingeri]] [[Category:Endemic reptiles of Mexico]] [[Category:Fauna of the Sierra Madre Oriental]] [[Category:Fauna of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca]] [[Category:Reptiles described in 1864]] [[Category:Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope]]