Lygosoma schneideri Werner, 1900

Grismer, L. Lee, Quah, Evan S. H., Duzulkafly, Zaharil & Yambun, Paul, 2018, On the taxonomy of Lygosoma bampfyldei Bartlett, 1895 (Squamata: Scincidae) with descriptions of new species from Borneo and Peninsular Malaysia and the resurrection of Lygosoma schneideri Werner, 1900, Zootaxa 4438 (3), pp. 528-550 : 536-537

Lygosoma schneideri Werner, 1900

Sumatran Supple Skink

Figs. 4 & 5

Lygosoma bampfyldii Boulenger, 1912:93 ; Smith, 1930:36

Lygosoma bampfyldei de Rooji, 1915:263 ; Greer, 1977:915; Welch et al., 1990:83; Das & Yaakob, 2007:78; Das, 2010:238; Grismer, 2011:613.

Riopa bampfyldei Smith 1937:228 ; Manthey & Grossmann 1997:275; Chan-ard et al., 1999:27.

Mochlus bampfyledei Mittleman, 1952:22

Riopa bampfyldii Denzer & Manthey, 1991:317

Holotype. Adult male (BM 4743) from “Indragiri, Djapura”, Sumatra, Indonesia and accessioned into the Naturhistorischen Museum Basel by G. Schneider on 1 January 1900.

Diagnosis. Lygosoma schneideri can be differentiated from all other Lygosoma by having the combination of a relatively large (SVL = 129 mm) robust body (PEC/SVL = 0.15); seven supralabials and infralabials; midline contact of the supranasals; prefrontals not in contact; frontoparietal contacting three supraoculars; large postinterparietal present; eight superciliaries; two postsuboculars, the first being small; one or two primary and three secondary and tertiary temporals; eight nuchal scales; a deep postnasal groove extending from the nasal scale to below the anterior portion of the eye and lying below the anterior loreals and lower preocular and above the second and third supralabials; scaly lower eyelid, no window; 45 midbody scale rows; 95 paravertebral scale rows; 98 ventral scale rows; 34 caudal scale rows at the tenth subcaudal; eight large precloacal scales; smooth to weakly keeled subdigital finger lamellae, 10 lamellae on third finger; keeled subdigital toe lamellae, 16 lamellae on fourth toe; low, round, small, palmar scales numbering seven across the base of the palm; head pattern consisting of a dark, continuous frontal and occipital band separated by a yellowish band; dark occipital band not confluent with lighter color of dorsum and tail. These characters are scored across all species in the L. bampfyldei group in Table 2.

Distribution. Lygosoma schneideri is known only from the type locality. Das (2010) reports this species from “north-western Sumatra (Indrajiri, Riau Province)” however the type locality listed by Werner (1910) “Indragiri, Djapura” is in southeastern Sumatra ( Fig. 1 ).

Remarks. Boulenger (1912) placed Lygosoma schneideri in the synonymy of L. bampfyldei in his redescription of the latter. Our analyses indicate that L. schneideri is considerably different from L. bampfyldei in having two vs. three suboculars, a postparietal scale ( Fig. 2 ), 45 vs. 36–40 midbody scale rows, 95 vs. 82–85 paravertebral scale rows, 34 vs. 28–30 scale rows around the tail at the 10th subcaudal, and a significantly (t = -6, p = 0.004) more robust (PEC/SVL = 0.15) vs. a slender (PEC/SVL = 0.12–0.13) body ( Fig. 4 ).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Distribution of the species of the Lygosoma bampfyldei group in Sundaland. Stars designate the location of the type localities for L. bampfyldei along the Rajang River, Sarawak, East Malaysia; L. peninsulare sp. nov. from 13.5 km east of Jeli, Kelantan, Peninsular Malaysia; L. kinabatanganensis sp. nov. from the Kinabatangan District, Deramakot camp (Deramakot Sabah Forestry Department), Sabah, East Malaysia; and L. schneideri from Indragiri, Djapura, Sumatra, Indonesia. Colors are coded to match those of the Figure 3.

FIGURE 2. A) Right lateral view of the head of the holotype of Lygosoma kinabatanganensis sp. nov. (FMNH 76226) from the Kinabatangan District, Deramakot camp (Deramakot Sabah Forestry Department), Sabah, East Malaysia and B) dorsal view of head of the holotype of L. schneideri from Djpura, Indragiri, Sumatra, Indonesia illustrating the positional relationship and size of some of the head scales. Terminology is adapted from Taylor (1935). AL = anterior loreal, Cs = chinshield; F = frontal, Fn = frontonasal, Fp = frontoparietal, IL = infralabial, Ip = interparietal, M = mental, N = nasal, Nu = nuchal, P = parietal, Pf = prefrontal, PI = postinterparietal, PL = posterior loreal, Pm = postmental, Pos = postsubocular, Pro = preocular, Prs = presubocular, PT = primary temporal, Psl = postsupralabial, Pto = postocular, R = rostral, Sl = supralabial, Sn = supranasal, So = supraocular, ST = secondary temporal, and TT = tertiary temporal. * = superciliary. Illustration by LLG.

FIGURE 4. Comparisons of body stature of the types of A, Lygosoma scheideri (BM 4743) from Djpura, Indragiri, Sumatra, Indonesia; B, syntype of Lygosoma bampfyldei (BMNH 1946.8.10.84) from the Rejan River, Sarawak, East Malaysia; C, L. kinabatanganensis sp. nov. (FMNH 76226) from the Kinabatangan District, Deramakot camp (Deramakot Sabah Forestry Department), Sabah, East Malaysia; and D, L. peninsulare sp. nov. (LSUHC 13857) from 13.5 km east of Jeli, Kelantan, Peninsular Malaysia.

FIGURE 5. A. Right lateral view of the heads of A, the syntype of Lygosoma bampfyldei (BMNH 1946.8.10.84) from the Rejan River, Sarawak, East Malaysia; B, the holotype of L. kinabatanganensis sp. nov. (FMNH 76226) from the Kinabatangan District, Deramakot camp (Deramakot Sabah Forestry Department), Sabah, East Malaysia; C, L. peninsulare sp. nov. (LSUHC 13857) from 13.5 km east of Jeli, Kelantan, Peninsular Malaysia; and D, L. scheideri (BM 4743) from Djpura, Indragiri, Sumatra, Indonesia. Photos by LLG.