Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Type: Articles
Published: 2009-12-16
Page range: 27–38
Abstract views: 36
PDF downloaded: 2

A new, diminutive, upland Sphenomorphus Fitzinger 1843 (Squamata: Scincidae) from the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex, Peninsular Malaysia

Department of Biology, La Sierra University, 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside, California, 92515-8247 USA
Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Reptilia Belum-Temengor forest complex Malaysia new species Scincidae Sphenomorphus Sphenomorphus temengorensis

Abstract

A new species of diminutive, upland, forest floor skink, Sphenomorphus temengorensis sp. nov. is described from the Belum-Temengor forest complex in northern Peninsular Malaysia. This species is differentiated from all other 36 Sundaland species of Sphenomorphus on the basis of a unique suite of morphological and color pattern characteristics. This is the first reptile known to be endemic to the Belum-Temengor forest complex and underscores the need for additional field research in this area that is actively being logged.

References

  1. Bacon, J.P., Jr. (1967) Systematic status of three scincid lizards (Genus Sphenomorphus) from Borneo. Fieldiana Zoology 51, 63–76.

    Boulenger, G.A. (1887) Catalogue of the lizards of the British Museum (Natural History). III. Lacertidae, Gerrhosauridae, Scincidae, Anelytropisidae, Dibamidae, Chameleontidae. Trustees of the British Museum, London, England.

    Boulenger, G.A. (1909) Description of new reptiles and batrachians from Borneo. Annals of the Magazine of Natural History 5, 306–308.

    Boulenger, G.A. (1912) A vertebrate fauna of the Malay Peninsula from the Isthmus of Kra to Singapore including adjacent islands. Reptilia and Batrachia. Taylor and Francis, London, England.

    Brongersma, L.G. (1942) Notes on scincid lizards. Zoologische Mededelingen 24, 153–158.

    Brown, W.C. & Alcala, A.C. (1980) Philippine lizards of the family Scincidae. Silliman University Natural Science Monograph Series No. 2, 1–246.

    De Rooij, N. (1915) The Reptiles of the Indo-australian Archipelago. I Lacertilia, Chelonia, Emydosauria. E. J. Brill Ltd., Leiden, Netherlands.

    Greer, A.E. (1974) The generic relationships of the scincid lizard genus Leiolopisma and its relatives. Australian Journal of Zoology, Supplementary Series 31, 1–67.

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

    Greer, A.E. (1979) A phylogenetic subdivision of Australian skinks. Records of the Australian Museum 32, 339–371.

    Greer, A.E. (1989) The Biology and Evolution of Australian Lizards. Surrey Beattty & Sons Pty Limited, Chipping Norton, Australia.

    Grismer, L.L. (2006) Two new species of skinks (Genus Sphenomorphus Fitzinger 1843) from the Seribuat Archipelago, West Malaysia. Herpetological Natural History, 9, 151–162.

    Grismer, L.L. (2007a). A new species of small montane forest floor skink (Genus Spenomorphus Fitzinger 1843) from southern peninsular Malaysia. Herpetologica, 63, 544–551.

    Grismer, L.L. (2007b) A new species of insular skink (Genus Sphenomorphus Fitzinger 1843) from the Langkawi Archipelago, Kedah, West Malaysia with the first report of the herpetofauna of Pulau Singa Besar and an updated checklist of the herpetofauna of Pulau Langkawi. Zootaxa, 1691, 53–56.

    Grismer, L.L., Sukumaran, J., Grismer, J.L., Youmans, T.M., Wood, Jr., P.L. & Johnson, R. (2006a) Report on the herpetofauna of the Temengor Forest Reserve, Perak, West Malaysia. Hamadryad, 29, 15–32.

    Grismer, L.L., Wood, Jr., P.L. & Grismer, J.L. (2009) A new insular species of skink of the genus Sphenomorphus Strauch 1887 (Squamata: Scincidae) from Pulau Perhentian Besar, Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia. Tropical Life Sciences Research, 20, 51–69.

    Inger, R.F. & Hosmer, W. (1965) New species of the scincid lizards of the genus Sphenomorphus from Sarawak. Israel Journal of Zoology, 14, 134–140.

    Inger, R.F., Lian, T.F., Lakim, M. & Yambun, P. (2001) New species of the lizard genus Sphenomorphus, (Lacertilia: Scincidae), with notes on ecological and geographic distribution of species in Sabah, Malaysia. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 49, 181–189.

    Iskandar, J. (1994) New scincid lizard of the genus Sphenomorphus (Reptilia, Scincidae) from Java. Truebia, 31, 25–30.

    Lim, L.J. (1998) The taxonomy of West Malaysian and Singapore Scincidae (Reptilia: Sauria). Unpublished M.S. Thesis, National University of Singapore, Kent Ridge, Singapore.

    Malkmus, R., Manthey, U., Vogel, G., Hoffmann, P. & Kosuch, J. (2002) Amphibians and Reptiles of Mount Kinabalu (North Borneo). A.R.G. Ganter Verlag, Kommanditgesellschaft.

    Manthey, U. & Grossman, W. (1997) Amphibien and Reptilien Südostasiens. Natur und Tier Verlag, Müster. Münster, Germany.

    Myers, W.C. & Donnelly, M.A. (1991) The lizard genus Sphenomorphus (Scincidae) in Panama, with a description of a new species. American Museum Novitates, 3027, 1–12.

    Reeder, T. (2003) A phylogeny of Australian Sphenomorphus group (Scincidae: Squamata) and the phylogenetic placement of the crocodile skinks (Tribolonotus): Baysian approaches to assessing congruence and obtaining confidence in maximum likelihood inferred relationships. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 27, 384–397.

    Smith, M.A. (1930) The Reptilia and Amphibia of the Malay Peninsula. A supplement to G. A. Boulenger’s Reptilia and Batrachia, 1912. Bulletin of the Raffles Museum, 3, 1–149.

    Smith, M.A. (1935) On a collection of reptiles and amphibians from Perak,Malay Peninsula. Bulletin of the Raffles Museum 10, 61–63.

    Smith, M.A. (1937) A review of the genus Lygosoma (Scincidae, Reptilia) and its allies. Records of the Indian Museum, 39, 213–234.

    Taylor, E.H. (1922) The lizards of the Philippine Islands. Philippine Bureau of Science Monographs, 17, 1–269.

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