Proablepharus barrylyoni, Couper, Patrick J., Limpus, Colin J., Mcdonald, Keith R. & Amey, Andrew P., 2010

Couper, Patrick J., Limpus, Colin J., Mcdonald, Keith R. & Amey, Andrew P., 2010, A new species of Proablepharus (Scincidae: Lygosominae) from Mt Surprise, north-eastern Queensland, Australia, Zootaxa 2433, pp. 62-68 : 63-67

Proablepharus barrylyoni sp. nov.

( Figs 1 and 2 )

Material. HOLOTYPE: QMJ40339, Springfield Stn, via Mt Surprise, Queensland, Australia (18° 02’ S, 144° 24’ E). Collected by C. J. Limpus and K. R. McDonald, 1 Sept., 1979. PARATYPES QMJ40327–QMJ40338, QMJ40340–QMJ40341, QMJ40710–QMJ40714; QMJ40998–QMJ41003, QMJ69452, QMJ78115– QMJ78116, locality data as for holotype (all paratypes collected Aug-Sept, 1979-1981).

Additional material. QMJ87231–QMJ87233 (eggs laid in captivity from wild caught gravid females), QMJ87221–QMJ87230 (hatchlings from eggs incubated in captivity) Springfield Stn, Mt Surprise, Queensland, Australia.

Etymology. Named for Barry Lyon who played an important role in collecting the type series of this species and for his contributions to wildlife conservation across Cape York Peninsula.

Diagnosis. A large, longitudinally striped Proablepharus (maximum SVL 51 mm) with four supraoculars, five supraciliaries, fused interparietal/frontoparietals, a well-developed upper preocular, two postsupralabials and smoothly rounded subdigital lamellae on digits of the hind limb.

Measurements and Meristics. SVL (mm) 32.8–50.9 (n = 29, mean = 44.6, SD = 4.6). AG 55.3–66.2% SVL (n = 28, mean = 59.2, SD = 2.8); TL = 160% SVL; HL 14.2–18.8% SVL (n = 27, mean = 16.3, SD = 1.1). Body. Robust with smooth scales. Midbody scales 21–22 rows (n = 29, mean = 21.9, SD = 0.3). Paravertebral scales (to the level of the posterior margin of the hindlimbs) 58–67 (n = 27, mean = 61.4, SD = 2.6). Outer preanal scales overlap inner preanal scales. Limbs. Well-developed, pentadactyl; L1 17.5–22.6% SVL (n = 25, mean = 20.4, SD = 1.5); L2 25.1–33.2% SVL (n = 27, mean = 29.3, SD = 2.4); L1 65.1 –76.5% L2 (n = 25, mean = 69.4, SD = 3.1). Fourth toe of L2 longest with 16–19 (n = 28, mean = 17.7, SD = 0.8) subdigital lamellae and a single row of 11–14 (n = 28, mean = 12.1, SD = 0.6) scales on dorsal surface. Head. Barely distinct from neck. HW 58.2–66.8% HL (n = 25, mean = 62.9, SD = 2.2); HD 35.3–45.5% HL (n = 26, mean = 40.7, SD = 2.4); S 37.1–42.4% HL (n = 27, mean = 40.6, SD = 1.2); EE 29.6–42.2% HL (n = 27, mean = 38.0, SD = 2.4). Snout rounded in profile. Frontonasal in broad contact with rostral and in moderate contact with frontal. Prefrontals large narrowly (34%) to widely separated (66%). Supraoculars four (rarely three, 6.9% of cases; one side only on 4/ 29 specimens) with first and second in contact with frontal and second, third and fourth in contact with frontoparietal (where only three supraoculars occur, the 1st and 2nd are fused and contact the frontal and all three contact the frontoparietal). Frontoparietals and interparietal fused to form a single shield; parietal eye spot in posterior lobe. Parietals in contact on posterior margin of fused frontoparietal/interparietal shield. Enlarged nuchals usually two (sometimes three, 17% of specimens). Snout rounded in profile. Loreals two, first taller than second. Preoculars two, upper smaller, but well- developed. Presubocular single (rarely two, 3%). Supraciliaries five. Lower eyelid preablepharine (with a large clear window, fixed in the raised position but with a palpebral slit dorsally; see Greer 1989). Ear opening small, round, inconspicuous, without lobules. Supralabials seven, with fifth below eye, or eight (5% of cases) with sixth below eye and last overlapping lower secondary temporal. Postsupralabials two. Pretemporals two. Primary temporal single. Secondary temporals two (upper overlapping lower). Tertiary temporals two. Infralabials six, two in contact with postmental. Three pairs of enlarged chin shields, first pair in contact, second pair separated by single scale row (rarely in point contact), third pair separated by three scale rows.

Colouration. The dorsum is dark brown with three conspicuous grey/white longitudinal stripes on each side; beginning behind the head and extending to the proximal third of the tail). The dorsal stripes are positioned centrally on the scale rows and the dorsolateral stripe is the palest. A pale mid-lateral stripe is present and is most conspicuous on the neck and anterior flanks. Additional pale stripes are present on the flanks but these are not well-defined and vary in intensity between individuals. The number of stripes varies between 10 and 14, but those on the lower flanks may not extend much beyond the forelimb. Some specimens are quite dark, but an indication of striping remains. The top of the head and snout are paler than the body with darker stippling and dark edging to the supraoculars. The labials are pale, with or without some dark spots. The limbs are mid-brown with striping evident on the proximal half. The tail is straw-coloured, suggesting an orange wash in life (extends to cloacal area and ventral surface of the hindlimbs), with reduced pigmentation distally. Ventral surface is pale and grades evenly with lower flanks. The parietal peritoneum is heavily suffused with dark brown. The lungs are pale. The tongue is darkly pigmented on the anterior portion. The contrast between the pale longitudinal stripes and the ground colour is greatly reduced in some of the paratypes (QMJ40336, QMJ40998, QMJ41000, QMJ41002–003, QMJ69452, and QMJ78116). Our material comes from a single locality and all collections were made in spring (Aug–Sept, 1979–1981), hence, it is unlikely that geographic, ecological or seasonal factors account for this variation. Greer et al. (2004) report a proportion of uniformly coloured specimens in their description of P. naranjicaudus , but unlike the P. barrylyoni sp. nov. specimens, these lack any indication of longitudinal stripes. In life, breeding males have an orange/red flush to the outer margin of the throat and jaw-line (KRM pers. obs.).

Details of holotype. Male, SVL 44.10 mm, AG 25.75 mm, T 73.01 mm, L1 9.39 mm, L2 13.37 mm, HL 7.42 mm, HW 4.96 mm, HD 3.19 mm, S 3.07 mm, EE 3.13 mm. Seven supralabials (fifth subocular), midbody scale rows 22, paravertebral rows 61, fourth toe subdigital lamellae 17 left and 18 right, fourth toe supradigital scales 11 left and 10 right.

Distribution. Proablepharus barrylyoni sp. nov. is known from a single location (18° 02’ S, 144° 24’ E) of no more than a few hectares in size on Springfield Stn, north-eastern Queensland (see Figure 3 ). It was found at no other site despite targeted searches over the broader survey area between 1979 and 1984 (Amber, Burlington and Springfield Stations). These initially sampled a diversity of habitats and included numerous drift-fence trapping events. The searches were later narrowed to sample grassy open woodland situations similar to the habitat found at the type locality.

Habitat. The habitat is on a seasonally inundated, basaltic (grey cracking clay) soil plain of the McBride Plateau. In 1980, the vegetation was grassland with scattered trees (see Figure 4 ). In the intervening 30 years the floristic composition has changed to a mixed species open woodland dominated by Corymbia dallachyana with occasional C. pocillum , C. terminalis and Terminalia spp. and scattered Acacia ( A. bidwillii , A. sutherlandi and A victoriae ). The ground cover in 2009 was dominated by Oryza australiensis with areas of Pennisetum basedowii, Iseilema vaginiflorum (all native grasses), Polymeria sp. (a native vine) and the introduced weeds Themeda quadrivalvis (Grader Grass) , Crytostegia grandiflora (Rubber Vine; a declared class 2 pest under the Land Protection (Pest and Stock Route Management) Act 200 2) and Xanthium occidentale (Noogoora burr) ( Figure 5 ). Themeda quadrivalvis was not present when P. barrylyoni sp. nov. was collected and has been a vigorous invader in recent times, displacing many native ground cover species. Fire has been excluded from the system resulting in an increase in woody vegetation.

Reproduction. Gravid females and reproductive males (nine of twelve with turgid testes and opaque epididymis) are present in the population in early spring (late August to early September). The smallest mature male (enlarged testes and epididymides present) was found to be 32.8 mm SVL, the largest 47.6 mm, while for females the range was 42.6–50.9 mm SVL (vitellogenic follicles present). Fully developed eggs measure 10.0– 10.7 mm in length (n = 3, mean = 10.4) x 5.0– 5.6 mm in width (n = 3, mean = 5.4 mm) and weigh 0.12–0.14 g (n = 3, mean = 0.13). Hatchlings measure 19.8–21.9 mm SVL (n = 6, mean = 20.8) with tail length of 116–130% SVL (n = 4, mean = 120.8).

Comparison with similar species. Proablepharus barrylyoni sp. nov is most similar to P. kinghorni and P. naranjicaudus in colour pattern (pale stripes on dark ground colour) and all three species have fused frontoparietals. It is separated from P. kinghorni by lacking a distinct interparietal scale (vs. interparietal distinct from fused frontoparietals). From P. naranjicaudus it is separated by the number of supraciliaries (five vs. generally six), the number of postsupralabials (two vs. usually one), the upper preocular (well-developed vs. reduced or absent) and the surface structure on the subdigital lamellae of the pes (smoothly rounded vs. trimucronate). Proablepharus barrylyoni sp. nov. generally has more presacral vertebrae than P. naranjicaudus (32–36, mean = 33.5, n = 29 vs. 30–33, mean = 31.2, n = 17, Mann –Whitney U = 25.0, P<0.0001, Greer et al. 2004). The remaining two species of Proablepharus , P. tenuis ( Broom, 1896) and P. reginae ( Glauert, 1960) both have paired frontoparietals (vs. fused in P. barrylyoni sp. nov.).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Holotype of Proablepharus barrylyoni sp. nov.; QMJ 40339.

FIGURE 2. Head scalation of Proablepharus barrylyoni sp. nov., QMJ 40335 (A) dorsal view (B) lateral view. C — chin scale; F — frontal; FN — frontonasal; FP — frontoparietal; I — interparietal; IL — infralabial; L — loreal; M — mental; N — nuchal; NA — nasal; PA — parietal PF — prefrontal; PO — preocular; PT — pretemporal; PSL — postsupralabial; PSO — presubocular; R — rostral; SC — supraciliary; SL — supralabial; SO — supraocular; 1 ° — primary temporal; 2 ° — secondary temporal; 3 ° — tertiary temporal.

FIGURE 3. Map of Queensland showing the only known collection site for Proablepharus barrylyoni sp. nov.

FIGURE 4. Type locality of Proablepharus barrylyoni sp. nov. around 1980. Image shows employees of the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service (now Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service) setting a trap line on Springfield Station. Habitat consists of grassland on a seasonally inundated, grey cracking clay soil.

FIGURE 5. Type locality of Proablepharus barrylyoni sp. nov., Springfield Station, 2009 (This image was taken approximately 150 m from the site shown in Fig. 4 and the orientation of the two images is the same. The soil compaction and erosion in the foreground is due to disturbance by domestic cattle (photograph by K. R. McDonald).