A new skink of the genus Scincella Mittleman, 1950 (Squamata, Scincidae) from Son La Province, northwestern Vietnam

By

Pham, Anh
Ziegler, Thomas
Pham, Cuong The
Hoang, Ngoc Thao
Ngo, Hanh Thi
Le, Minh Duc, 1973-

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1226

Pages

319--337

Subjects

COI , molecular phylogeny , Morphology , Scincella truongi sp. nov , Sop Cop Nature Reserve , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1226.139655

 

Abstract

A new species of the genus Scincella Mittleman, 1950 is described from northern Vietnam based on morphological and molecular evidence. Scincella truongisp. nov. is characterized by a combination of the following characters: size medium (SVL up to 59.4 mm); primary temporals 2; external ear opening without lobules; loreals two; supralabials seven or eight; infralabials six or seven; nuchals in three pairs; midbody scales in 28 rows; dorsal scales smooth, in six rows across the back; paravertebral scales 60–67, not widened; ventral scales in 60–70 rows; ten smooth lamellae beneath finger IV and 13–15 beneath toe IV; toes not reaching to fingers when limbs adpressed along body; dorsal surface of body and tail bronze brown with few black spots, a dark stripe running from nostril to eye and extending from posterior corner of eye along upper part of flank to the middle of the tail. In the phylogenetic analyses, the new species is recovered as an independent lineage with no clear sister taxon and at least 17.3% genetic divergence from other species in the genus based on a fragment of the mitochondrial COI gene.