Abstract
Ongoing surveys for skinks of the genus Lerista in north Queensland have resulted in the collection of voucher specimens from two populations formerly assigned to Lerista storri Greer, McDonald & Lawrie, 1983 that are geographically isolated from the type population and show a degree of morphological variation differing from the type population. Analysis of recently collected material has confirmed both populations are specifically distinct to the type population, with one being more closely related to Lerista ameles Greer, 1979, another little known, north Queensland species. Consequently, these populations are described as Lerista alia sp. nov. and Lerista parameles sp. nov. The morphological diversity of L. storri is thereby restricted, necessitating a redescription. The conservation status of all these taxa is discussed.
References
Amey, A.P. & Couper, P.J. (2009) A new limb-reduced skink (Scincidae: Lerista) from the dry rainforest of north Queensland, Australia. Zootaxa, 2173, 19–30.
Amey, A.P., Couper, P.J., Worthington Wilmer, J., Ferguson, D. & Borsboom, A.C. (2018a) A two-toed population of the critically endangered Retro Slider Skink, Lerista allanae (Longman, 1937) (Reptilia: Scincidae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, Nature, 61, 71–81.
https://doi.org/10.17082/j.2204-1478.61.2018.2018-04
Amey, A.P., Kutt, A.S. & Hutchinson, M. (2005) A new species of Lerista (Scincidae) from central Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 50, 125–131.
https://doi.org/10.1082/j.2204-1478.50-2.2005.2005.02
Amey, A.P., Worthington Wilmer, J., Blomberg, S.P. & Couper, P.J. (2018b) Range extension and genetic structure of the narrowly-restricted skink, Lerista rochfordensis Amey and Couper, 2009 (Reptilia; Scincidae). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, Nature, 61, 29–41.
https://doi.org/10.17082/j.2204-1478.61.2018.2017-09
Atkinson, A. (2010) Undara Volcano, North Queensland, Australia and its lava field—lava caves, depressions and The Wall—a possible lunar analogue. In: Proceedings 14th International Symposium on Vulcanospeleology, 2010, pp. 19–44.
Bell, T. (1833) Characters of two new genera of reptiles. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1, 98–99.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1833.tb06430.x
Cogger, H.G. (2014) Reptiles & Amphibians of Australia. 7th Edition. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, 1033 pp.
https://doi.org/10.1071/9780643109773
Cohen, B.E., Mark, D.F., Fallon, S.J. & Stephenson, P.J. (2017) Holocene-Neogene volcanism in northeastern Australia: Chronology and eruption history. Quaternary Geochronology, 39, 79–91.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2017.01.003
Couper, P.J., Amey, A.P. & Worthington Wilmer, J. (2016) Cryptic diversity within the narrowly endemic Lerista wilkinsi group of north Queensland—two new species (Reptilia: Scincidae). Zootaxa, 4162 (1), 61–91.
https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4162.1.3
Couper, P.J. & Ingram, G.J. (1992) A new species of skink of Lerista from Queensland and a re-appraisal of L. allanae (Longman). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 32, 55–59.
Drummond, A.J., Suchard, M.A., Xie, D. & Rambaut, A. (2012) Bayesian phylogenetics with BEAUti and the BEAST 1.7. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 29, 1969–1973.
https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mss075
Gray, J.E. (1845) Catalogue of the Specimens of Lizards in the Collection of the British Museum. Vol. 28. British Museum, London, 289 pp.
https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.5499
Greer, A.E. (1979) A new species of Lerista (Lacertilia: Scincidae) from northern Queensland, with remarks on the origin of the genus. Records of the Australian Museum, 32, 383–388.
https://doi.org/10.3853/j.0067-1975.32.1979.461
Greer, A.E. (1986) Diagnosis of the Lerista bipes species-group (Lacertilia: Scincidae), with a description of a new species and an updated diagnosis of the genus. Records of the Western Australian Museum, 13, 121–127.
Greer, A.E., McDonald, K.R. & Lawrie, B.C. (1983) Three new species of Lerista (Scincidae) from northern Queensland with a diagnosis of the wilkinsi species group. Journal of Herpetology, 17, 247–255.
https://doi.org/10.2307/1563827
IUCN (2012) IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1. 2nd Edition. Gland and Cambridge, 32 pp.
Lillywhite, H.B. (2008) Dictionary of Herpetology. Krieger Publishing Co, Malabar, Florida, 376 pp.
Miller, M.A., Pfeiffer, W. & Schwartz, T. (2010) Creating the CIPRES Science Gateway for inference of large phylogenetic trees. In: Proceedings of the Gateway Computing Environments Workshop (GCE), New Orleans, 2010, pp. 1–8.
https://doi.org/10.1109/GCE.2010.5676129Mitchell, F.J. (1955) Preliminary account of the Reptilia and Amphibia collected by the National Geographic Society—Commonwealth Government—Smithsonian Institution Expedition to Arnhem Land (April to November, 1948). Records of the South Australian Museum, 11, 373–408.
Posada, D. & Crandall, K.A. (1998) Modeltest: Testing the model of DNA substitution. Bioinformatics, 14, 817–818.
https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/14.9.817
Queensland Government (1992) Nature Conservation Act, Brisbane, Queensland. Available from: https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/acts_sls/Acts_SL_N.htm (accessed 28 June 2016)
Queensland Government Environment and Science (2018) Regional ecosytems descriptions. Available from: https://environment.ehp.qld.gov.au/regional-ecosystems/ (accessed 27 April 2018)
Rabosky, D.L., Donnellan, S.C., Grundler, M. & Lovette, I.J. (2014) Analysis and visualization of complex macroevolutionary dynamics: an example from Australian scincid lizards. Systematic Biology, 63, 610–627.
https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syu025
Ronquist, F., Teslenko, M., Van Der Mark, P., Ayres, D.L., Darling, A., Hohna, S., et al. (2012) MRBAYES 3.2: Efficient Bayesian phylogenetic inference and model selection across a large model space. Systematic Biology, 61, 539–542.
https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/sys029
Simmons, J.E. (2015) Herpetological Collecting and Collections Management. Vol. 42. 3rd Edition. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Salt Lake City, 191 pp.
Simpson, G.G. (1961) The Principles of Animal Taxonomy. Columbia Univeristy Press, New York, 247 pp.
Skinner, A. (2010) Rate heterogenity, ancestral character state reconstruction and the evolution of limb morphology in Lerista (Scincidae, Squamata). Systematic Biology, 59, 723–740.
https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syq055
Skinner, A., Hutchinson, M.N. & Lee, M.S.Y. (2013) Phylogeny and divergence times of Australian Sphenomorphus skinks (Scincidae, Squamata). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 69, 906–918.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2013.06.014
Stamatakis, A. (2014) RAxML Version 8: A tool for phylogenetic analysis and post-analysis of large phylogenies. Bioinformatics, 30, 1312–1313.
https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btu033Stanisic, J. (2010) Excaliburopa. In: Australian Land Snails. Vol. 1. A Field Guide to Eastern Australian Species. Bioculture Press, Mauritius, pp. 262.
Stanisic, J., Shea, M., Potter, D. & Griffiths, O. (2010) Australian Land Snails. Vol. 1. A Field Guide to Eastern Australian Species. Vol. 1. Bioculture Press, Mauritius, 591 pp.
Sternfeld, R. (1919) Neue Schlangen und Echsen aus Zentralaustralien. Senckenbergiana, 1, 76–83.
Storr, G.M. (1982) Four new Lerista (Lacertilia: Scincidae) from Western and South Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum, 10, 1–9.
Storr, G.M. (1984) Revision of the Lerista nichollsi complex (Lacertilia: Scincidae). Records of the Western Australian Museum, 11, 109–118.
Storr, G.M. (1991) Partial revision of the Lerista macropisthopus group (Lacertilia: Scincidae). Records of the Western Australian Museum, 15, 149–161.
Sutherland, F.L. (1998) Origin of north Queensland Cenozoic volcanism: Relationships to long lava flow basaltic fields, Australia. Journal of Geophysical Research, 103, 27347–27358.
https://doi.org/10.1029/97JB03578
Vanderduys, E., Couper, P., Amey, A., Sanderson, C. & Hobson, R. (2018) Lerista storri. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2018, e.T109477586A109477591.
https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-1.RLTS.T109477586A109477591.en
Wilson, S. & Swan, G. (2017) A Complete Guide to Reptiles of Australia. 5th Edition. Reed New Holland Publishers, London, 647 pp.
Wilson, S.K. (2015) A Field Guide to Reptiles of Queensland. 2nd Edition. Reed New Holland Publishers, London, 304 pp.