Sphenomorphus taiwanensis CHEN & LUE, 1987

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Higher Taxa	Scincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies
Common Names
Synonym	Sphenomorphus taiwanensis CHEN & LUE 1987
Distribution	C Taiwan Type locality: Mt. Hohuan, Taiwan, 3200 m elevation (24° 8’ 27’’ N, 121° 16’ 40’’ E)
Reproduction	oviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022)
Types	Holotype: NTNUB (given as TNUB) 148801, adult female
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: Body more or less slender; supranasal absent; prcfrontals widely separate or just in contact; 4 (rarely 3) pairs of third supraocular is very short. While S. boutengeri has more scales around the middle of the body (36-40 scales), no nuchal (rarely 1 pair), more lamellae under the fourth toe (22-27 lamellae), and with a patch of enlarged scales on the thigh. These characters are different from S. taiwanensis, which has 26-28 scales around the middle of the body, 4 pairs of nuchals, frontal in contact with anterior two supraoculars. Without any transparent disk on lower eyelid, S. taiwanensis can be 'separated easily from Scincella formosensls, It seems that D. smaragdina is very rare in Taiwan. We do not have the chance to examine any specimen of it, While Stejneger (1910) pointed out that D. smaragdina bears an enlarged scale on the heel, with 33 sub- digital lamellae beneath the fourth toe, frontal •in contact with anterior three supraoculars, 3 pairs of nuchals, and rather slender of fore and hind-legs. S. courcyanum has no nuchal plate, fewer lamellae (12-13 lamellae) beneath the fourth toe; S. helenae has 3 pairs of nuchals, 30 scales around the middle of the body. Both species can be distinguished easily from S. taiwanensis. The comparisons among these allied species are shown in Table 2.
Comment
Etymology	Named after the type locality.
References	Chen,S.H. & Lue,K.Y. 1987. A new species of skink, Sphenomorphus taiwanensis, from Taiwan (Sauria, Scincidae). Bull. Inst. Zool. (Acad. Sinica) 26: 115-121 Huang, SP., Kearley, R.E., Hung, KW. et al. 2020. Evaporative water loss simulation improves models’ prediction of habitat suitability for a high-elevation forest skink. Oecologia (2020) - get paper here Huang, W.-S. 1997. Reproductive Cycle of the Skink, Sphenomorphus taiwanensis, in Central Taiwan Journal of Herpetology 31 (2): 287-290. - get paper here Zimin, A., Zimin, S. V., Shine, R., Avila, L., Bauer, A., Böhm, M., Brown, R., Barki, G., de Oliveira Caetano, G. H., Castro Herrera, F., Chapple, D. G., Chirio, L., Colli, G. R., Doan, T. M., Glaw, F., Grismer, L. L., Itescu, Y., Kraus, F., LeBreton 2022. A global analysis of viviparity in squamates highlights its prevalence in cold climates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–16 - get paper here
External links	IUCN Red List Google images

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