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Issue: Vol. 4132 No. 1: 28 Jun. 2016
Type: Article
Published: 2016-06-28
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4132.1.3
Page range: 30–43
Abstract views: 210
PDF downloaded: 87

Additions to Philippine Slender Skinks of the Brachymeles bonitae Complex (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae) III: a new species from Tablas Island

Department of Biology, University of South Dakota, 414 East Clark Street, Vermillion, SD 57069, USA.
Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019, USA.
Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, 2401 Chautauqua Avenue, Norman, OK 73072, USA.
Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019, USA.
School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK.
Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019, USA.
Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019, USA.
Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019, USA.
Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019, USA.
Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019, USA.
Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019, USA.
Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019, USA.
Father Saturnino Urios University, San Francisco Street, 8600 Butuan City, Philippines
Biodiversity Institute and Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Kansas, 1345 Jayhawk Boulevard, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA.
Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019, USA. Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, University of Oklahoma, 2401 Chautauqua Avenue, Norman, OK 73072, USA.
Reptilia biodiversity endemism faunal region fossoriality limb reduction non-pentadactyl pentadactyl Romblon Island Group

Abstract

Studies of the diversity of Philippine amphibians and reptiles have resulted in the continued description of cryptic species. Species formerly thought to range across multiple recognized faunal regions are now considered to be assemblages of multiple unique species, each restricted to a single faunal region. This pattern continues to hold true when considering Philippine skinks of the genus Brachymeles. Recent studies have resulted in the description of numerous unique species with many exhibiting various degrees of digit loss or limb reduction, as well as suggesting that unique lineages are still present in the B. bonitae Complex. In this paper, we describe a new species of fossorial skink within this species complex from Tablas Island based on collections made nearly 50 years ago. Although no genetic data are available for the new species, examinations of morphological data (qualitative traits, meristic counts, and mensural measurements) support its distinction from all other members of the genus. Brachymeles dalawangdaliri sp. nov. is differentiated from other members of the genus based on a suite of unique phenotypic characteristics, including a small body size (SVL 66.0–80.9 mm), bidactyl fore-limbs, digitless, unidactyl, or bidactyl hind limbs, a high number of presacral vertebrae (49), the absence of auricular openings, and distinct dorsal head scale patterns. The description of the new species increases the diversity of endemic vertebrates recognized to occur in the Romblon Island Group in the central Philippines.

 

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