The close resemblance between _E. fasciatus_ and its Asiatic relatives is remarkable considering the great distance separating them and the long time that must have elapsed since their isolation began. Some of the Asiatic forms differ from each other almost as much as they differ from _fasciatus_. Of the Asiatic species, _elegans_, _tamdaoensis_, _oshimensis_, and _marginatus_ differ from _fasciatus_ in markedly larger size; _elegans_, _marginatus_, _oshimensis_, and _stimsonii_ differ in lacking a postnasal; all but _tamdaoensis tunganus_ and _xanthi_ differ in having only a single postmental; all but _tunganus_, _E. latiscutatus okadae_ (and sometimes _oshimensis_ and _elegans_) differ in reduced number of scale rows; all but _tunganus_ differ in having a lateral postanal scale differentiated, and usually keeled; _tunganus_, _xanthi_ and _elegans_ differ in having a patch of enlarged scales on the posterior side of the thigh; and in all, the primary temporals and upper and lower secondary temporals differ in size and proportions. Although some of the Asiatic forms seem to be directly derived from others, _fasciatus_ is somewhat intermediate between the more divergent forms, and fulfills most of the conditions to be looked for in an ancestral type. Table 1. Distribution, Pattern, Size, and Lepidosis of the "Five-lined" Skinks (Fasciatus Group of the Genus Eumeces) ================================================================================================================================== |_fasciatus_ | |_laticeps_ | | |_inexpectatus_ | | | |_tunganus_ | | | | |_xanthi_ | | | | | |_elegans_ | | | | | | |_tamadoensis_ | | | | | | | |_oshimensis_ | | | | | | | | |_stimsonii_ | | | | | | | | | |_barbouri_ | | | | | | | | | | |_marginatus_ | | | | | | | | | | | |_latiscutatus_ ----------------+---------+---------+---------+----------+--------+---------+-------+--------+---------+-------+-------+-------------- Distribution |E U. S., |Most of |SE U. S. |W Szechwan|SE |SW |Indo- |Amami- |Ishigaki-|Amami- |Okinawa|Japan, |except |E U. S., | |(in |China |China, |China |gunto I.|jima, Riu|shima | |(main I.) |Fla.