Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Article
Published: 2008-02-07
Page range: 35–52
Abstract views: 45
PDF downloaded: 24

A new species of Eutropis (Squamata: Scincidae) from Sri Lanka

Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia
Amphibia and Reptile Research Organisation of Sri Lanka, 15/1 Dolosbage Road, Gampola, Central Province, Sri Lanka
Department of Biological Sciences and Museum of Natural Science, Louisiana State University, 119 Foster Hall, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, U.S.A
Reptilia Eutropis tammanna sp. n. Scincidae systematics morphology Sri Lanka Bayesian ND2 DNA SH test

Abstract

A new species of lygosomine scincid lizard of the genus Eutropis is described from the dry and intermediate zones of the lowlands (0–190 m asl) of Sri Lanka. Eutropis tammanna sp. nov. is compared with congeners from Sri Lanka and those from southern Peninsular India, and is diagnosable by molecular data and by the following combination of morphological characters: body size small, up to 52.3 mm; transparent window-like disk absent on lower eyelids; prefrontals in broad contact; a single pair of nuchals; postnasal absent; ear opening larger than adjacent scales; dorsal scales with 6–7 keels; midbody scale rows 28–29; paravertebral scale rows 37–40; ventral scales 41–48; lamellae under fourth toe 15– 16; dark labial bars present in both sexes, which are more distinct in males; dark postocular stripe absent; males brown on dorsum, with dark flanks speckled with cream; females similar to males, the pattern less contrasting, lacking paired series of black markings, pale vertebral stripes or dark longitudinal stripes on dorsum. In addition, the rostral, labials, and gular region of presumed breeding males are bright flame scarlet.

References

  1. Austin, C.C., Das, I. & de Silva, A. (2004) Higher-level molecular phylogenetic relationships of the endemic genus Lankascincus from Sri Lanka based on nuclear DNA sequences. In: The herpetology of Sri Lanka: current research (including Proceedings of the Fourth World Congress of Herpetology, Sri Lankan papers and the Nilgala Expedition papers) Lyriocephalus Special Issue, 5, 11–22.

    Bauer, A.M. & Günther, R. (1992) A preliminary report of the reptile fauna of the Kingdom of Bhutan with the description of a new species of scincid lizard (Reptilia: Scincidae). Asiatic Herpetological Research, 4, 23–26.

    Bickford, D., Lohman, D.J., Sodhi, N.S., Ng, P.K.L., Meier, R., Winker, K., Ingram, K. & Das, I. (2007) Cryptic species as a window on diversity and conservation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 22, 148–155.

    Bossuyt, F., Meegaskumbura, M., Beenaerts, N., Gower, D.J., Pethiyagoda, R., Roelants, K., Mannaert, A., Wilkinson, M., Bahir, M.M., Manamendra-Arachchi, K., Ng, P.K.L., Schneider, C.J., Oommen, O.V. & Milinkovitch, M.C. (2004) Local endemism within the Western Ghats–Sri Lanka biodiversity hotspot. Science, 306, 479–481.

    Boulenger, G.A. (1887) Catalogue of lizards in the British Museum (Natural History). Second edition. Volume III. Lacertidae, Gerrhosauridae, Scincidae, Anelytropidae, Dibamidae, Chamaeleontidae. British Museum (Natural History), London, United Kingdom. xii + 575 pp + Pls. I–XL. Reprinted 1965, Wheldon & Wesley, Codecote, U.K. and Verlag J. Cramer, Weinheim, Germany and 2003, Elibron Classics series, Adamant Media Corporation, Delaware, U.S.A.

    Das, I. (1996) Biogeography of the reptiles of south Asia. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida, U.S.A. 16 colour plates + ix + 87 pp.

    Das, I. (2002) A photographic guide to the snakes and other reptiles of India. New Holland Publishers (U.K.) Ltd., London, United Kingdom. U.S. edition, Ralph Curtis Books, Sanibel Island, Florida, U.S.A. 144 pp.

    Das, I., Dattagupta, B. & Gayen, N.C. (1998) History and catalogue of reptile types in the collection of the Zoological Survey of India. Journal of South Asian Natural History, 3, 121–172.

    Das, I. & de Silva, A. (2005) A photographic guide to the snakes and other reptiles of Sri Lanka. New Holland Publishers (UK), Ltd., London, United Kingdom. U.S. edition, Ralph Curtis Books, Sanibel Island, Florida, U.S.A. 144 pp.

    Das, I. & Palden, J. (2000) A herpetological collection from Bhutan, with new country records. Herpetological Review, 31, 256–258.

    Deraniyagala, P.E.P. (1931) Some Ceylon lizards. Ceylon Journal of Science (B). Spolia Zeylanica, 16(2), 139–180; Pl. XXXIII–XXXVIII.

    Deraniyagala, P.E.P. (1953) A colored atlas of some vertebrates from Ceylon. Volume Two. Ceylon National Museums, Colombo, Sri Lanka. vii + captions to plates + 35 plates + 3 unpaginated pages + 101 pp.

    de Rooij, N. (1915) The reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Vol. I. Lacertilia, Chelonia, Emydosauria. E.J. Brill, Leiden, Netherlands. xiv + 384 pp. Reprinted 1990, Natraj Publishers, Dehradun, India.

    de Silva, A. (1998) Sauria (lizards and varanids) of Sri Lanka: a checklist and an annotated bibliography. Department of Wildlife Conservation / Global Environmental Facility / United Nations Development Program / Food and Agricultural Organisation, Kandy, Sri Lanka. 52 pp.

    Edwards, A.W.F. (1972) Likelihood. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom. 235 pp.

    Felsenstein, J. (1981) Evolutionary trees from gene frequencies and quantitative characters: finding maximum likelihood estimates. Evolution, 35, 1229–1242.

    Felsenstein, J. (1985) Confidence limits on phylogenies: an approach using the bootstrap. Evolution, 39, 783–791.

    Ferguson, W. (1877) Reptile fauna of Ceylon. Letter on a collection sent to the Colombo Museum. William Henry Herbert, Government Printer, Colombo, Sri Lanka. 42 pp + 1 map.

    Fernando, C.H. (1984) Ecology and biogeography in Sri Lanka. Dr. W. Junk, Publishers, The Hague, Netherlands. xix + 505 pp.

    Greer, A.E. (1977) The systematics and evolutionary relationships of the scincid lizard genus Lygosoma. Journal of Natural History, 11, 515–540.

    Greer, A.E. (1982) A new species of Leiolopisma (Lacertilia: Scincidae) from western Australia, with notes on the biology and relationships of other Australian species. Records of the Australian Museum, 34, 549–573.

    Greer, A.E. (1991) Lankascincus, a new genus of scincid lizards from Sri Lanka, with descriptions of three new species. Journal of Herpetology, 25, 59–64.

    Greer, A.E., Auffenberg, K. & Auffenberg, W. (2004) Studies on Pakistan lizards: observations on the scincid lizard Mabuya dissimilis (Hallowell, 1860) with comments on two other species in the genus. Hamadryad, 28, 66–72.

    Greer, A.E. & Broadley, D.G. (2000) Six characters of systematic importance in the scincid lizard genus Mabuya. Hamadryad, 25, 1–12.

    Hillis, D.M. & Bull, J.J. (1993) An empirical test of bootstrapping as a method for assessing confidence in phylogenetic analysis. Systematic Biology, 42, 182–192.

    Honda, M., Ota, H., Kobayashi, M., Nabhitabhata, J, Yong, H.-S. & Hikida, T. (1999) Evolution of Asian and African lygosomine skinks of the Mabuya group (Reptilia: Scincidae): a molecular perspective. Zoological Science, 16, 979–984.

    Honda, M., Ota, H., Kohler, G., Ineich, I., Chirio, L., Chen, S.-L. & Hikida, T. (2003) Phylogeny of the lizard subfamily Lygosominae (Reptilia: Scincidae), with special reference to the origin of the New World taxa. Genes and Genetic Systems, 78, 71–80.

    Horton, D.R. (1973a) A new scincid genus from southeast Asia. Journal of Herpetology, 7, 283–298.

    Horton, D.R. (1973b) Evolution of the genus Mabuya (Lacertilia, Scincidae). Unpublished Ph. D. Dissertation, University of New England, Armidale, Australia. (13) + 311 pp.

    Huelsenbeck, J.P. & Ronquist, F. (2005) Bayesian analysis of molecular evolution using MrBayes. In: Nielson, R. (Ed), Statistical Methods in Molecular Evolution. Springer, New York, pp. 183–232.

    Inger, R.F., Shaffer, H.B., Koshy, M. & Bakde, R. (1984) A report on a collection of amphibians and reptiles from the Ponmudi, Kerala, south India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 81, 551–570; Plates IV–VIII.

    Kelaart, E.F. (1852) Prodromus Faunae Zeylanicae; being contributions to the zoology of Ceylon. Volume 1. Privately published, Colombo, Sri Lanka. xxxiii + 197 + 54 + (3) pp.

    Kelaart, E.F. (1854) Prodromus Faunae Zeylanicae; being contributions to the zoology of Ceylon. Volume 2, Part 1. Privately published, Colombo, Sri Lanka. 23 + 31 + xvi pp.

    Leviton, A.E., Anderson, S.C. & Gibbs, R. H. (1988) Standards in herpetology and ichthyology. Part I. Standard symbolic codes for institutional resource collections in herpetology and ichthyology. Supplement no. 1: additions and corrections. Copeia, 1988, 280–282.

    Leviton, A.E., Anderson, S.C., Gibbs, R.H., Heal, E. & Dawson, C.E. (1985) Standards in herpetology and ichthyology. Part I. Standard symbolic codes for institutional resource collections in herpetology and ichthyology. Copeia, 1985, 802–832.

    Macey, J.R., Larson, A., Ananjeva, N.B., Fang, Z. & Papenfuss, T.J. (1997) Two novel gene orders and the role of light-strand replication in rearrangement of the vertebrate mitochondrial genome. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 14, 91–104.

    Maddison, D.R. & Maddison, W.P. (2000) MacClade, 4.0. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA., U.S.A.

    Mausfeld, P. & Böhme, W. (2002) A new Mabuya from Java, Indonesia. Salamandra, 38, 135–144.

    Mausfeld, P., Vences, M., Schmitz, A. & Veith, M. (2000) First data on the molecular phylogeography of scincid lizards of the genus Mabuya. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 17(1), 11–14.

    Mausfeld, P. & Schmitz, A. (2003) Molecular phylogeography, intraspecific variation and speciation of the Asian scincid lizard genus Eutropis Fitzinger, 1843 (Squamata: Reptilia: Scincidae): taxonomic and biogeographic implications. Organism Diversity and Evolution, 3, 161–171.

    Mausfeld, P., Schmitz, A., Böhme, W, Misof, B., Vrcibradic, D. & Rocha, C.F.D. (2002) Phylogenetic affinities of Mabuya atlantica Schmidt, 1945, endemic to the Atlantic Ocean Archipelago of Fernando de Noronha (Brazil): necessity of partitioning the genus Mabuya Fitzinger, 1826 (Scincidae: Lygosominae). Zoologischer Anzeiger, 241, 281–293.

    Mausfeld, P. & Vrcibradic, D. (2002) On the nomenclature of the skink (Mabuya) endemic to the Western Atlantic Archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, Brazil. Journal of Herpetology, 36, 292–295.

    Nevill, H. (1887) Scincidae of Ceylon. The Taprobanian, 2, 55–58. (description of Euprepes halianus authored by A. Haly and H. Nevill.)

    Ota, H., Hikida, T., Nabhitabhata, J. & Panha, S. (2001) Cryptic taxonomic diversity in two broadly distributed lizards of Thailand (Mabuya macularia and Dixonius siamensis) as revealed by chromosomal investigations (Reptilia: Lacertilia). The Natural History Journal of Chulalongkorn University, 1, 1–7.

    Panabokke, C.R. (1996) Soils and agro-ecological environments of Sri Lanka. Natural Resources, Energy & Science Authority, Colombo, Sri Lanka. 220 pp.; 2 foldings maps.

    Panabokke, C.R. & Kannangara, R.P. (1996) Map – 02. Agro-ecological regions of Sri Lanka. In: Pannaboke, C.R. (author), Soils and agro-ecological environments of Sri Lanka. Natural Resources, Energy & Science Authority, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

    Posada, D. & Crandall, K.A. (1998) MODELTEST: testing the model of DNA substitutions. Bioinformatics, 14, 817–818.

    Rohling, E.J., Fenton, M., Jorissen, F.J., Bertrand, P., Ganssen, G. & Caulet, J.P. (1998) Magnitudes of sea-level lowstands of the past 500,000 years. Nature, London, 394, 162–165.

    Sharma, R.C. (1971) The reptile fauna of the Nagarjunasagar Dam area (Andhra Pradesh, India). Records of the Zoological Survey of India, 63, 77–93.

    Sharma, R.C. (1973) Specific status of the skink, Mabuya allapallensis Schmidt [Reptilia: Scincidae]. Journal of the Zoological Society of India, 25, 150–152.

    Shimodaira, H. & Hasegawa, M. (1999) Multiple comparisons of log-likelihoods with applications to phylogenetic inference. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 16, 1114–1116.

    Smith, M.A. (1935) The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol. II.– Sauria. Taylor and Francis, London, United Kingdom. xiii + 440 pp + 1 pl. Reprinted 1970 Ralph Curtis Books, Hollywood, Florida, U.S.A. and 1980 Today and Tomorrow’s Publishers, Dehradun, India.

    Smithe, F.B. (1975) Naturalist’s color guide. Parts I and II. American Museum of Natural History, New York, U.S.A. Part I: 8 pp + 18 colour swatches; Part II: xiii + 229 pp.

    Smithe, F.B. (1981) Naturalist’s color guide. Part III. American Museum of Natural History, New York, U.S.A. (iv) + 37 pp.

    Storr, G.M., Smith, L.A. & Johnstone, R.E. (1999) Lizards of Western Australia. I. Skinks. Revised (second) edition. Western Australian Museum, Perth, Australia. xvi + 291 pp.

    Swofford, D.L. (1999) PAUP*. Phylogenetic Analysis Using Parsimony (* and other methods). Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, MA., U.S.A.

    Talukdar, S.K., Gayen, N.C. & Sanyal, D.P. (1978) First record of the skink Mabuya beddomii (Jerdon) [Sauria: Scincidae] from Orissa, India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 74, 538.

    Taylor, E.H. (1935) A taxonomic study of the cosmopolitan scincoid lizards of the genus Eumeces with an account of the distribution and relationships of its species. University of Kansas Science Bulletin, 23(14), 1–643.

    Taylor, E.H. (1950) Ceylonese lizards of the family Scincidae. University of Kansas Science Bulletin, 33, 481–518.

    Taylor, E.H. (1953) A review of the lizards of Ceylon. University of Kansas Science Bulletin, 35, 1525–1585.

    Taylor, E.H. (1963) The lizards of Thailand. University of Kansas Science Bulletin, 44, 687–1077.

    Taylor, E.H. & Elbel, R.E. (1958) Contribution to the herpetology of Thailand. University of Kansas Science Bulletin, 38, 1033–1189.

    Thompson, J.D., Gibson, T.J., Plewniak, F., Jeanmougin, F. & Higgins, D.G. (1997) The ClustalX windows interface: flexible strategies for multiple sequence alignment aided by quality analysis tools. Nucleic Acids Research, 24, 4876–4882.

    Welch, K.R.G., Cooke, P.S. & Wright, A.S. (1990) Lizards of the Orient: a checklist. Robert E. Krieger Publishing Company, Malabar, Florida, U.S.A. v + 162 pp.