Ornithuroscincus bengaun Slavenko & Tamar & Tallowin & Kraus & Allison & Carranza & Meiri 2022, SP. NOV

ORNITHUROSCINCUS BENGAUN SP. NOV. DAGA SMOOTH- EARED SKINK (FIGS 16–17; 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: 4DC0258B-AECD-4FFB-899B-C8436002B5A7 Holotype: BPBM 37741 (field tag FK 15374), adult male, collected by F. Kraus at Sota, 9.7580°S, 149.1822°E (WGS 84), 1860 m a.s.l., saddle between Mt Dayman and Mt Suckling, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea, 20 March 2011. Diagnosis: A moderate-sized species of Ornithuroscincus (adult SVL 48.2 mm), characterized by the unique combination of long limbs (forelimbs 36.3% of SVL, hindlimbs 47.3% of SVL); frontoparietals fused; nuchals single pair; paravertebral scales 55; mid-body scale rows 30; 4 th digit on front foot no longer than 3 rd; subdigital lamellae 20 under 4 th toe; single supradigital scales six on 4 th toe; dorsal coloration uniform bronze; slightly zigzag unfragmented dorsolateral stripes present, one to one and a half scales wide, extending from orbital region to tail, pale brown in preservative, pale yellow in life; dark brown lateral field present, speckled with light blue spots a single scale wide; ventral surfaces uniform light blue in preservative, darker on the chin; brown spotting absent from chin, abdomen, thighs and precloacal region; light brown spotting present on ventral surfaces of tail; palmar and plantar surfaces light brown. Comparisons: Ornithuroscincus bengaun differs from all other species of Ornithuroscincus by its distinct colour pattern consisting of uniform bronze mid-dorsum with distinct, thick, pale brown dorsolateral stripes. It further differs from O.albodorsalis, O.nototaenia, O.sabini and O. cf. venemai in having fused (vs. unfused) frontoparietals and by lacking a parietal eye spot (vs. present). It further differs from O. cf. venemai by having a higher count of midbody scale rows (30 vs. 24–26; Brongersma, 1953a). It further differs from O. albodorsalis, O. noctua and O. nototaenia by having a higher count of midbody scale rows (30 vs. 22–26, 23–28 and 24–25, respectively; Zweifel, 1979; Shea & Greer, 2002). 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, in shallow contact with frontal; prefrontals large, separated by frontonasal and frontal contact, bordered ventrolaterally by two loreals; supraoculars four, anterior two in contact with frontal, posterior three in contact with frontoparietals; frontal kite shaped, widest anteriorly, suture with frontoparietal shallowly convex; frontoparietals fused, in contact with frontal; interparietal smaller than fused frontoparietal, kite shaped, widest anteriorly; parietal eye spot absent; parietals in contact behind interparietal, in contact anteriorly with frontoparietal, posteriormost supraocular and pretemporals; nuchals single pair, transversely enlarged, wider than long, separated from secondary temporal by a single intercalated scale of similar size to nuchal. Anterior loreal smaller than posterior loreal, higher than long; posterior loreal roughly as high as long; lower preocular rectangular; upper preocular much smaller, longer than high; presuboculars two; postsuboculars two, lower interdigitated between subocular supralabial and penultimate supralabial; lower eyelid scaly, moveable, with an opaque palpebral disc of roughly similar size as ear opening; supraciliaries eight, anteriormost in shallow contact with frontal, posteriormost projecting medially and interdigitated between posteriormost supraocular and upper pretemporal; primary temporal single, interdigitated between penultimate and posteriormost supralabial; secondary temporals two, upper larger and overlapping lower; supralabials seven, fifth in contact with small scales of lower eyelid; postsupralabials two; ear opening moderate sized and oval shaped, without lobules. Mental single; postmental single, contacting two anteriormost infralabials; infralabials six; enlarged chin shields three pairs, the first pair in medial contact, second pair narrowly separated by single medial scale, third pair separated by three medial scales; posteriormost chin shield in contact with penultimate infralabial. Body scales smooth, in 30 rows at midbody; paravertebral scales 55; medial precloacal scales enlarged, overlapping lateral precloacals. Scales on dorsal surface of 4th toe in two rows proximally, single row distally beginning before third interphalangeal joint, six single scales; subdigital lamellae under 4th toe 20, smooth. In preservative (Fig. 17), dorsum uniform bronze; dorsolateral stripes present as thick (1.0–1.5 scales wide), unfragmented, slightly zigzag pale brown stripes extending from orbital region to tail, framed laterally by thin, dark brown stripes; dark brown lateral field present, extending from dorsolateral stripe ventrally to just above the limbs, and speckled with pale blue spots a single scale wide; head scales similar in coloration to dorsal scales, apart from palercoloured supraciliaries, which make up anterior edges of dorsolateral stripe; ventral surfaces uniformly pale blue in preservative, darker on the chin, and lacking brown spotting on the chin, abdomen, thighs and precloacal region; light brown spotting present on ventral surfaces of tail; palmar and plantar surfaces light brown. Colour in life: Dorsal surfaces uniform olive green (Fig. 16). Dorsolateral stripes paler bronze. Lateral field medium brown, darker along dorsal margin, flecked with pale bronze (dorsally) or white (ventrally) spots a single scale wide. Field notes in life stated: “Olive green above with metallic yellow-brown dorsolateral stripe; sides brown with pale yellow-brown spots. Face brown; temporal region brown with metallic green sheen. Chin white with pale green sheen, chest and abdomen metallic green yellow, under tail orange”. Etymology: The name is from the Daga word bengaun, a small, dark lizard. Daga is the language spoken in the area from which this species was collected. Distribution: Known from a single specimen collected at 1860 m a.s.l. on the northern slopes of the Owen Stanley Mts, near the saddle between Mt Dayman and Mt Suckling. Natural history: The single specimen was collected in primary rainforest, but no information on microhabitat is available. Conservation status: Only known from a single specimen, and more information is required for a proper assessment. It does not occur near any protected areas, but it occurs in a large, unbroken band of untouched mid-elevation forest that has no serious human habitat disturbance. We recommend assigning a status of Data Deficient to O. bengaun.