Bibliotheca Herpetologica 19(3)

Shea, G. M. 2025. The Mysterious Doctor Rurk and His Eponymous Catskink, Ristella rurkii Gray 1839 (Squamata: Scincidae: Lygosominae: Ristellini) with Notes on Other Collectors for the Museum of the Army Medical Service at Chatham. Bibliotheca Herpetologica 19(3):12–27.

Ristella rurkii, although stated originally to be named after a “Dr Rurk”, was likely named after Dr. William Augustus Burke, the first Inspector-General of Hospitals in India, who collected for the Museum of the Army Medical Service at Fort Pitt, Chatham. Burke was mostly based in north India, corresponding to the type locality of R. rurkii, and to the localities for his bird collections. However, the skink is only known from the Western Ghats of far southern India. With the type no longer extant, a neotype is designated to stabilise nomenclature. Known natural history collectors for the Fort Pitt Museum, along with their British Army service postings, are tabulated.