Lobulia vogelkopensis, Slavenko & Tamar & Tallowin & Kraus & Allison & Carranza & Meiri, 2022

Slavenko, Alex, Tamar, Karin, Tallowin, Oliver J S, Kraus, Fred, Allison, Allen, Carranza, Salvador & Meiri, Shai, 2022, Revision of the montane New Guinean skink genus Lobulia (Squamata: Scincidae), with the description of four new genera and nine new species, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 195 (1), pp. 220-278 : 259-260

LOBULIA VOGELKOPENSIS SP. NOV.

VOGELKOP MOSS SKINK

( FIG. 15 ; TABLE 1 )

Z o o b a n k r e g i s t r a t i o n: u r n: l s i d: z o o b a n k. org:act: DEBCBB9C-06A3-4E33-B425-C4885ABA72BA

Holotype: BPBM 6917 (field tag MCT 3820), adult male, collected by M.C. Thompson at Kampong Sururae, Lake Anggi Giji , 1.36°S, 133.856°E (WGS 84), (“ 6200 ft ”=) 1890 m a.s.l., Arfak Mts, West Papua Province, Indonesia, 8 March 1963.

Paratypes (N = 2): Indonesia: West Papua Province: Arfak Mts : same locality as holotype ( BPBM 6919–20; one male, one female) .

Diagnosis: A medium-sized species of Lobulia (adult SVL 56.0– 58.3 mm), characterized by the unique combination of frontoparietals unfused; supraorbital ridges not pronounced; posteriormost supralabial fragmented by horizontal suture; nuchals single pair; paravertebral scales 69–77; mid-body scale rows 34–36; 4 th digit on front foot no longer than 3 rd; subdigital lamellae 19–23 under 4 th toe; single supradigital scales 3–4 on 4 th toe; mid-dorsum irregularly spotted with small to medium-sized dark brown spots continuing onto tail; light brown dorsolateral stripes present, either fragmented or continuous, framed medially by dark brown spots; flanks dark brown flecked with small white spots; unfragmented light brown lateral stripes present; in preservative, uniform light brown coloration on abdomen, thighs, precloacal region, tail and chin that lacks brown spotting; palmar and plantar surfaces light brown.

Comparisons: Lobulia vogelkopensis differs from Lo. brongersmai and Lo. marmorata in having unfused (vs. fused) frontoparietals. It differs from all other species of Lobulia in having a higher count of paravertebral scales (69–77 vs. 46–68 in all others) and irregularly placed small dark brown spots on the dorsum (vs. one or two mid-dorsal rows of large dark brown spots). Lobulia vogelkopensis further differs from Lo. elegans and Lo. fortis in having light brown lateral stripes (vs. absent).

Description of the holotype: Rostral broad and shallow, wider than deep, projecting slightly onto top of snout; nasals more or less rectangular, separated by rostral and frontonasal contact, projecting anterodorsally onto dorsum of snout; nostril circular, centred within nasal; frontonasal large, with seven sides, extending laterally to slightly above the level of nares, separated from frontal by prefrontal contact; prefrontals large, in narrow medial contact, bordered ventrolaterally by two loreals; supraoculars four, anterior three in contact with frontal, posterior two in contact with frontoparietals; frontal kite shaped, widest anteriorly; frontoparietals single pair in medial contact, in narrow contact with frontal; interparietal of roughly similar area to single frontoparietal, kite shaped, widest anteriorly; parietal eye spot absent; parietals in contact behind interparietal, in contact anteriorly with frontoparietals, posteriormost supraocular and two pretemporals; nuchals single pair, transversely enlarged, wider than long, separated from secondary temporal by a single intercalated scale. Anterior loreal smaller than posterior loreal, higher than long; posterior loreal longer than high; lower preocular roughly square in shape; upper preocular much smaller, longer than high; presuboculars two; postsuboculars three, lowest interdigitated between subocular supralabial and penultimate supralabial; lower eyelid scaly, moveable, with a clear palpebral disc considerably smaller than size of ear opening; supraciliaries nine, anteriormost not in contact with frontal, posteriormost projecting medially and interdigitated between posteriormost supraocular and upper pretemporal; primary temporals two, lower interdigitated between sixth and seventh supralabials; secondary temporals two, upper larger and overlapping lower; supralabials seven, fifth in contact with small scales of lower eyelid, posteriormost fragmented by horizontal suture; postsupralabials two; ear opening moderately large and oval shaped, with lobules along anterior margin. Mental single; postmental single, contacting two anteriormost infralabials; infralabials eight; enlarged chin shields four pairs, the first two pairs in medial contact, third pair narrowly separated by single medial scale, fourth pair separated by three medial scales; posteriormost chin shield in contact with antepenultimate infralabial. Body scales smooth, in 34 rows at midbody; paravertebral scales 77; medial precloacal scales enlarged, overlapping lateral precloacals. Scales on dorsal surface of 4th toe in two paired rows proximally, single row distally beginning at third interphalangeal joint, three single scales; subdigital lamellae under 4th toe 23, smooth. In preservative ( Fig. 15 ), base dorsal coloration coppery brown, with many irregularly placed dark brown spots no more than a single scale long or wide, continuing along dorsum and tail; light brown unfragmented dorsolateral stripes present, framed medially by row of dark brown spots one to two scales long; lateral field dark brown, speckled with light brown spots a single scale wide; light brown unfragmented lateral stripe present, extending from ear opening to hindlimbs; head similar in coloration to dorsum; dark brown spotting present on head scales; ventral, palmar and plantar surfaces uniform light brown.

Variation: Adult body size 56.0– 58.3 mm SVL (mean = 57.4, SD = 1.2, N = 3). Single female (58.3 mm) larger than both males (56.0– 57.8 mm). Forelimbs 35.7– 41.3% of SVL (mean = 37.7%, SD = 3.2, N = 3). Hindlimbs 41.6–47.8% of SVL (mean = 45.0%, SD = 3.1, N = 3). Scale rows at midbody 34–35 (mean = 35, SD = 1, N = 3); paravertebral scales 69–77 (mean = 72.7, SD = 4, N = 3). Lamellae under 4th toe 19–23 (mean = 21, SD = 2, N = 3); single supradigital scales on 4th toe 3–4 (mean = 3.3, SD = 0.6, N = 3). BPBM 6920 has nuchals as wide as long; primary nuchals separated from secondary temporals by two smaller intercalated scale on left side and one on right. Supraciliaries eight with anteriormost in narrow contact with frontal in BPBM 6920, nine with anteriormost not in contact with frontal in BPBM 6917 and 6919. Presubocular single in BPBM 6920, two in BPBM 6917 and 6919. Primary temporal single in BPBM 6919 and 6920, two in BPBM 6917. Supralabials seven in BPBM 6917 and 6920, eight in BPBM 6919. Infralabials seven in BPBM 6920, eight in BPBM 6917 and 6919. Infralabials posterior to contact with chin shields, one in BPBM 6920, two in BPBM 6917 and 6919. Colour pattern generally similar to holotype, but size of dark brown spots varies between individuals, and BPBM 6920 has fragmented dorsolateral stripes.

Etymology: Suffixed form of Vogelkop with the Latin –ensis, denoting place, in reference to the Vogelkop, Dutch for ‘Bird’s Head Peninsula’, West Papua, in reference to where the type series was collected.

Distribution: Known only from the type locality in the Arfak Mountains of West Papua Province, Indonesia.

Remarks: Genetic data for Lo. vogelkopensis are not available. Furthermore, it is only known from the Arfak Mts, almost 1000 km west of the other currently described species of Lobulia , although this gap in distribution likely represents a lack of sampling in Indonesian New Guinea rather than an actual absence. Therefore, the exact phylogenetic relationship of this species to other species of Lobulia is uncertain. However, based on its scalation (unfused frontoparietals) and general coloration, Lo. vogelkopensis is likely more closely related to Lo. elegans and its related species rather than to Lo. brongersmai and Lo. marmorata , and the presence of light coloured lateral stripes suggests an affinity to Lo. huonensis and Lo. lobulus .

Reproduction: Viviparous. Only a single gravid female was collected, with a litter size of two, but litter size is presumably variable in this species, as in other members of the genus.

Conservation status: Population size and trend unknown. The three specimens are only known from a single location, with an area of occupancy of a single 4 km 2 cell. The type locality is roughly 13 km from a protected area, the Pegunungan Arfak Nature Reserve . No records of the species exist later than the 1960s, and Indonesian New Guinea is poorly sampled. Therefore, an assessment of this species will require more information than is currently available, and we recommend assigning a status of Data Deficient to Lo. vogelkopensis .

Figures

Figure 15. Lobulia vogelkopensis holotype (BPBM 6917), in (A) dorsal view, (B) ventral view, (C) lateral view of head, (D) dorsal view of head and (E) ventral view of head. Images by Alex Slavenko.