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| Scincella qianica Xu, Weng, Poyarkov, Zhang, Deng & Peng, in Xu, Weng, Poyarkov, Zhang, Li, Deng et Peng, 2025. Guizhou Ground Skink | 黔滑蜥 || DOI: doi.org/10.3897/zse.101.157713 |
Abstract
Scincella potanini was long considered the only species of the genus Scincella recorded in Guizhou Province, China. This study describes a new species of the genus Scincella, Scincella qianica sp. nov., from Guizhou, China, based on an integrative taxonomic approach combining molecular and morphological data. The new species can be distinguished from all known congeners by the following combination of morphological characters: (1) medium body size in adults (SVL length up to 44.8 mm); (2) tail relatively long, TAL/SVL ratio 1.76–2.14 in original tail specimens; (3) toes not in contact with fingers when limbs adpressed; (4) infralabials six to seven; (5) supraciliaries six, rarely seven; (6) tympanum deeply sunk, without lobules; (7) primary temporal one; (8) three pairs of nuchals; (9) midbody scale row counts 26; (10) paravertebral scale row counts 61–66; (11) ventral scale row counts 46–53; (12) 9–10 enlarged lamellae beneath finger IV, and 13–14 beneath toe IV; (13) dark dorsolateral stripes with relatively straight upper edge, extending from the tip of snout to the end of tail, with 1/2+4+1/2 rows of dorsal scales in the middle; (14) ventral surface covered with discontinuous black longitudinal stripes. In the phylogenetic analyses, the new species was nested within a highly supported lineage, forming a sister taxon with S. alia, and exhibits at least 15.8% genetic divergence from other congeners based on the mitochondrial CO1 gene.
Key Words: Molecular phylogeny, morphological characters, Scincella qianica sp. nov., taxonomy
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| Dorsal (A) and ventral (B) views of Scincella qianica sp. nov. in life. A1, B1. QHU R2025002, holotype, adult male; A2, B2. QHU R2025001, paratype, adult male; A3, B3. QHU R2025003, paratype, juvenile. Photos by Yuhao Xu. |
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| Head scalation of Scincella qianica sp. nov. (holotype QHU R2025002, adult male). A. Dorsal; B. Lateral; C. Ventral views. SO: supraoculars; NU: nuchals; SCI: superciliaries; L: loreals; SL: supralabials; IL: infralabials; TEM: temporals; CH: chin shields. Photos and drawings by Yuhao Xu. Scale bars: 5 mm. |
Scincella qianica Xu, Weng, Poyarkov, Zhang, Deng & Peng, sp. nov.
Etymology. The specific name “qianica” is a Latinized adjective in nominative singular (feminine gender), derived from Chinese “Qián” (黔), the traditional abbreviation for Guizhou Province, China, where the new species was discovered. For the common names, we suggested “Guizhou Ground Skink” in English and “Qián Huá Xī” (黔滑蜥) in Chinese.
Diagnosis. Scincella qianica sp. nov. can be diagnosed from other Scincella species by the following unique combination of characters: (1) medium body size in adults (SVL length up to 44.8 mm); (2) tail relatively long, TAL/SVL ratio 1.76–2.14 in specimens with intact tails; (3) toes not in contact with fingers when limbs adpressed, FLL+HLL/AGD ratio 0.80–0.91; (4) infralabials six to seven; (5) supraciliaries six, rarely seven; (6) tympanum deeply sunk, without lobules; (7) primary temporal single; (8) three pairs of nuchals; (9) midbody scale row counts 26; (10) paravertebral scale row counts 61–66; (11) ventral scale row counts 46–53; (12) 9–10 enlarged lamellae beneath finger IV, and 13–14 beneath toe IV; (13) the dark dorsolateral stripes with relatively straight upper edge, extends from the tip of snout to the end of tail, with 1/2+4+1/2 rows of dorsal scales in the middle; (14) ventral surface covered with discontinuous black longitudinal stripes.
Yuhao Xu, Shiyang Weng, Nikolay A. Poyarkov, Tierui Zhang, Zeyu Li, Jundong Deng, Lifang Peng. 2025. Discovery of A New skink of the Genus Scincella Mittleman, 1950 (Squamata, Scincidae) from Guizhou Province, China. Zoosystematics and Evolution. 101(4): 1495-1511. DOI: doi.org/10.3897/zse.101.157713
