Wednesday, February 29, 2012

[Herpetology • 2003] Larutia seribuatensis & L. puehensis • Two New Southeast Asian Skinks of the Genus Larutia and Intrageneric Phylogenetic Relationships


Top: Holotype of Larutia seribuatensis ZRC 2.5088
Bottom: (left)  Nuchal bands  of  Larutia seribuatensis ZRC 2.5088  and (right) L. trifasciata BM 3853.  First nuchal band of L. seribuatensis makes contact with the posterior edge of the eye. 


Abstract
Two  new species  of  Larutia are described, one  from Pulau Tulai, located  38  km off the southeast coast of Pahang, West Malaysia, in the Seribuat Archipelago and another from Gunung Berumput in the Pueh Mountains of Sarawak, East Malaysia. The Pulau Tulai species differs from all others in having a pair of light yellow dorsolateral stripes, light yellow markings on the head, small maximum snout-vent length (115 mm), and characteristics of nuchal banding. The Gunung Berumput species differs from all others in having radiating nuchal markings. Both  represent new  island records (Pulau Tulai and Borneo) and, based  on morphology, are members of different monophyletic species groups within Larutia

Key words:  Borneo; Gunung Berumput; Larutia; Malaysia; New species; Phylogeny; puehensis; Seribuat 
Archipelago; seribuatensis

Larutia seribuatensis  sp. nov. 
Suggested common name.- Two-lined  two-toed skink. 
Holotype.- ZRC  2.5088,  adult male (Figs. 2, 3) from Pulau Tulai (2? 95'  N,  104.17? W), Pahang, West  Malaysia; collected  by  J.  L. Grismer on 13 July 2001.

Larutia puehensis  sp. nov. 
Suggested common name.- Berumput  two-toed skink. 
Holotype.- BM  1927 8.11  2,  adult female (Figs. 6, 7) from Gunung Berumput (10 70' N, 1090  75'  E),  Pueh Mountains, Sarawak, East Malaysia; collector  and  date  of  collection unknown (C.  McCarthy, personal communication).

Fic.  1.- The  distribution of the species of Larutia. L = L. larutensis, T =  L. trifasciata, M =  L. miodactyla, S = L.  sumatrensis,  P  =  L.  puehensis,  and  Sr  =  L. seribuatensis.


Grismer, J.L., Leong, T.M. and Yaakob, N.S. 2003. Two New Southeast Asian Skinks of the Genus Larutia and Intrageneric Phylogenetic Relationships. Herpetologica. 59(4): 552-564. http://jstor.org/stable/3893647