Abstract
A new species of skink in the genus Caledoniscincus is described from the northwest region of New Caledonia. It is knownfrom two locations, one on the coast at Pointe de Vavouto north of Koné, the other on the slopes of the Massif d’Oua-zangou, an isolated mountain 30 km to the north. Typical of all members of the genus, adult males and females of the newspecies are sexually dichromatic. The new species, Caledoniscincus constellatus sp. nov., has a bold, white midlateralstripe, a feature which distinguishes it from most other species of Caledoniscincus except the regionally sympatric C. hap-lorhinus (Günther) and C. austrocaledonicus (Bavay), from which it can be distinguished by a unique pattern of contactbetween the pale midlateral stripe and the ear. DNA sequence data for the ND2 mitochondrial gene identifies a high levelof genetic differentiation between the new species and all other Caledoniscincus, further supporting its distinctiveness asan independent evolutionary lineage. The species is of high conservation concern given its restricted distribution in a re-gion that has been, and will continue to be, heavily impacted by human occupation, and would be ranked as Critically Endangered under IUCN criteria.References
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