Sphenomorphus rarus MYERS & DONNELLY, 1991

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Higher Taxa	Scincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies
Common Names
Synonym	Sphenomorphus rarus MYERS & DONNELLY 1991 Sphenomorphus rarus — KÖHLER 2000: 93 Sphenomorphus rarus — KÖHLER 2008: 165 Scincella rarus — LINKEM, DIESMOS & BROWN 2011 Scincella rarus — LOTZKAT 2014: 501
Distribution	W Panama Type locality: SW headwaters of Río Guabo, 780 m elevation, 8° 47’ W, 82° 11’ W, Bocas del Toro, Panama.
Reproduction
Types	Holotype: AMNH 129836
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: A medium-sized (SVL of holotype 52 mm) skink that is distinguished from the skink-like anguids (genera Celestus and Diploglossus) and gymnophthalmids (genera Gymnophthalmus and Bachia), as well as the skink Marisora unimarginata by the same characters as Scincella cherriei. The species differs from its only Panamanian congener in lacking prefrontals, thus exhibing a broad contact between the frontal and frontonasal plates, the latter of which has a markedly concave posterior border (vs. PF 2, narrow contact between frontal and FN along a rather straight portion of the otherwise convex posterior border of the latter), and in having only 11 subdigital lamellae under the 4th toe and 7 under the 4th finger (vs. 4th toe 13 or more, 4th finger 9 or more), among others. (Lotzkat 2014) Additional details (643 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details.
Comment	Synonymy: Scincella rarus (MYERS & DONNELLY 1991) is a homonym of Scincella rara (DAREVSKY & ORLOV 1997). Abundance: Rare. This is one of the species called 'lost' and 'rediscovered' by Lindken et al. 2024.
Etymology	Named after Latin rarus, few, infrequent; rare; in small groups. [“...The species name is a Latin adjective alluding to the rarity of this new lizard, known from a single specimen...”].
References	Köhler, G. 2000. Reptilien und Amphibien Mittelamerikas, Bd 1: Krokodile, Schildkröten, Echsen. Herpeton Verlag, Offenbach, 158 pp. Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. 2nd Ed. Herpeton-Verlag, 400 pp. Lindken T.; Anderson, C. V., Ariano-Sánchez, D., Barki, G., Biggs, C., Bowles, P., Chaitanya, R., Cronin, D. T., Jähnig, S. C., Jeschke, J. M., Kennerley, R. J., Lacher, T. E. Jr., Luedtke, J. A., Liu, C., Long, B., Mallon, D., Martin, G. M., Meiri, 2024. What factors influence the rediscovery of lost tetrapod species? Global Change Biology, 30: 1-18 - get paper here Lotzkat, Sebastian 2014. Diversity, taxonomy, and biogeography of the reptiles inhabiting the highlands of the Cordillera Central (Serranía de Talamanca and Serranía de Tabasará) in western Panama. PhD thesis, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, 930 pp. - get paper here Myers, C W. Donnelly M A. 1991. The lizard genus Sphenomorphus (Scincidae) in Panama with description of a new species. American Museum Novitates (3027): 1-12. - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List Google images

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