A new species of insular skink (Genus Sphenomorphus Fitzinger 1843) from the Langkawi Archipelago, Kedah, West Malaysia with the first report of the herpetofauna of Pulau Singa Besar and an updated checklist of the herpetofauna of Pulau Langkawi

Abstract

A new species of small, insular, forest floor skink, Sphenomorphus langkawiensis sp. nov. is described from the islands of Langkawi and Singa Besar in the Langkawi Arichipelago, Kedah, West Malaysia. This species is differentiated from all other 35 Sundaland and Malay Peninsula species of Sphenomorphus on the basis of a unique suite of morphological and color pattern characteristics. The discovery of the first endemic reptile in the Langkawi Archipelago and the addition of nine new records of species to Pulau Langkawi underscores the unrealized biodiversity of the herpetofauna of this archipelago. Twelve species (one frog, nine lizards, and two snakes) are reported for the first time from Pulau Singa Besar, a small satellite island off the southern coast of Pulau Langkawi.