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| Dibamus somsaki Honda, Nabhitabhata, Ota & Hikida, 1997; [A & B] Dibamus alfredi Taylor, 1962 in Kliukin, Pawangkhanant, Aksornneam, Kaosung, Nguyen, Bragin, Gorin, Suwannapoom, Thammachoti Charunrochana et Poyarkov, 2026. |
Abstract
Alfred’s blind skink, Dibamus alfredi Taylor, 1962, and Somsak’s blind skink, Dibamus somsaki Honda, Nabhitabhata, Ota & Hikida, 1997, are two poorly known and rarely recorded members of the family Dibamidae endemic to Thailand. Since their original descriptions based on specimens collected in Pattani Province in 1960 and Chanthaburi Province in 1995, respectively, both species have remained extremely elusive and no molecular data have been available to date. Here, we report new records of D. alfredi from Yala Province in southern Thailand and of D. somsaki from Chanthaburi Province in eastern Thailand, providing important new locality data for these rare Thai endemics. Based on newly collected material, we present revised diagnoses and detailed redescriptions of both species and provide osteological descriptions of D. alfredi and D. somsaki based on micro-CT data for the first time. In addition, we present the first molecular data for both species based on mitochondrial DNA sequences of three gene fragments (16S rRNA, ND2, and COI) and reconstruct an updated phylogeny of the family Dibamidae. Our analyses confirm that D. alfredi and D. somsaki represent two deeply divergent evolutionary lineages within the genus Dibamus.
Reptilia, Dibamus alfredi, Dibamus somsaki, blind skinks, rediscovery, molecular phylogeny, osteology, Indochina
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| Dibamus somsaki in life (ZMMU re-18399), female from Makham district, Chanthaburi, Thailand. Photograph by P. Pawangkhanant. |
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| Dibamus alfredi in life. (A) female(B) male; from Yala, Thailand. Photographs by N.A. Poyarkov (A) and A. Kaosung (B). |
Alfred’s blind skink, Dibamus alfredi Taylor, 1962
Somsak’s blind skink, Dibamus somsaki Honda, Nabhitabhata, Ota & Hikida, 1997
Nikita S. KLIUKIN, Parinya PAWANGKHANANT, Akrachai AKSORNNEAM, Andaman KAOSUNG, Tan Van NGUYEN, Andrey M. BRAGIN, Vladislav A. GORIN, Chatmongkon SUWANNAPOOM, Panupong THAMMACHOTI CHARUNROCHANA and Nikolay A. POYARKOV. 2026. Long time no see: Rediscovery, first Molecular data, and Redescriptions of Two rare Dibamus Species from Thailand (Squamata: Dibamidae). Zootaxa. 5875(4); 301-332. DOI: doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5875.4.1 [2026-09-07]
