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Tribolonotus novaeguineae (SCHLEGEL, 1834)

IUCN Red List - Tribolonotus novaeguineae - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaScincidae, Egerniinae (Tiliquini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Spiny Skink
G: Neuguinea-Helmskink 
SynonymZonurus novaeguineae SCHLEGEL 1834: 218
Tribolonotus Novae-Guineae — DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 366
Tribolonotus novaeguineae — BOULENGER 1887: 365
Tribolonotus novae-guineae — DE ROOIJ 1915: 281
Tribolonotus novae-guineae — BURT & BURT 1932
Tribolonotus novaeguineae — BONETTI 2002: 164
Tribolonotus novaeguineae — PIANKA & VITT 2003: 213 
DistributionIndonesia (Irian Jaya), Papua New Guinea

Type locality: Indonesia, Irian Jaya (Nieuw Guinea), by the fortress Merkusoord (near Triton-Baai).  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesSyntypes: RMNH RENA.3599 (Naturalis, Leiden, Netherlands), Collected by S. Muller and H. Macklot in Indonesia, Irian Jaya. Number given as 2599 by Brygoo (1985). Original description not explicit about number of specimens, and hence it is possible that some early specimens of this species in other collections distributed by RMNH may also be types. These include BMNH 1946.8.20.84 (formerly xv.77a), New Guinea, exchanged RMNH; MNHN 2805 (2531), exchanged RMNH (Brygoo, 1985) and ZMB 4474, New Guinea, exchanged RMNH (Bauer et al., 2003). 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (genus): The genus Tribolonotus is unusual among scincid lizards in its characteristic strongly keeled to spinose scales and, in at least two species, the ability to vocalize (Cogger 1972), a character known from only one other scincid species (Nannoscincus gracilis). The genus is further defined by two synapomorphies: the presence of abdominal glands and palmar and plantar pores (Greer & Parker 1968; Parker 1940).


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CommentSynonymy: Various authors expressed the opinion that Tribolonotus gracilis might be synonymous with Tribolonotus novaeguineae (for a discussion see MYS 1988: 148).

Type species: Zonurus novaeguineae SCHLEGEL 1834: 218 is the type species of the genus Tribolonotus DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839: 366.

Phylogenetics of Tiliquini: Brennan et al. 2024.

Reference images: see Uetz et al. 2024 for high-resolution reference images for this species. 
References
  • Austin, Christopher C.; Eric N. Rittmeyer, Stephen J. Richards, George R. Zug 2010. Phylogeny, historical biogeography and body size evolution in Pacific Island Crocodile skinks Tribolonotus (Squamata; Scincidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 57 (1): 227-236 - get paper here
  • Bonetti, Mathilde 2002. 100 Sauri. Mondadori (Milano), 192 pp. - get paper here
  • Boulenger, G. A. 1887. Catalogue of the lizards in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) III. Lacertidae, Gerrhosauridae, Scincidae, Anelytropsidae, Dibamidae, Chamaeleontidae. London: 575 pp. - get paper here
  • Brecko, Jonathan, and Olivier SG Pauwels 2024. Biofluorescence of the Crocodile Skinks, genus Tribolonotus: first report in Scincidae. Herpetology Notes 17: 411-418
  • Burt, Charles E.; Burt, May Danheim 1932. Herpetological results of the Whitney South Sea Expedition. VI. Pacific island amphibians and reptiles in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 63 (5): 461-597 - get paper here
  • Cogger,H.G. 1972. A new scincid lizard of the genus Tribolonotus from Manus Island, New Guinea. Zoologische Mededelingen 47: 202-210 - get paper here
  • Duméril, A. M. C. and G. Bibron. 1839. Erpétologie Générale on Histoire Naturelle Complète des Reptiles. Vol. 5. Roret/Fain et Thunot, Paris, 871 pp. - get paper here
  • Greer,A.E. & Parker,F. 1968. A new species of Tribolonotus (Lacertilia: Scincidae) from Bougainville and Buka, Solomon Islands, with comments of the biology of the genus. Breviora (291): 1-23 - get paper here
  • Janssen, J. & Shepherd, C. R. 2018. Challenges in documenting trade in non CITES-listed species: A case study on crocodile skinks (Tribolonotus spp.). J. Asia-Pacific Biodivers. 11, 476–481 (2018) - get paper here
  • Kinghorn,J.R. 1937. A new species of skink from the Solomon Islands. Rec. Austral. Mus. 20 (1): 1-2 - get paper here
  • MEYER, Jochen 2012. Erste Erfahrungen mit dem Neuguinea-Helmskink, Tribolonotus novaeguineae. Terraria-Elaphe 2012 (6): 78-86 - get paper here
  • Mys, Benoit 1988. The zoogeography of the scincid lizards from North Papua New Guinea (Reptilia: Scincidae). I. The distribution of the species. Bull. Inst. Roy. Sci. Nat. Belgique (Biologie) 58: 127-183
  • Parker, H. W. 1940. Undescribed anatomical structures and new species of reptiles and amphibians. Ann. Mag. nat. Hist. (11) 5: 257-274 - get paper here
  • Pianka, E.R. & Vitt, L.J. 2003. Lizards - Windows to the Evolution of Diversity. University of California Press, Berkeley, 347 pp. [review in Copeia 2004: 955] - get paper here
  • Schlegel, H. 1834. Monographie van het geslacht Zonurus. Tijdschr. Nat. Gesch. Phys. 1: 203-221 - get paper here
  • Uetz, P.H.; Patel, M.; Gbadamosi, Z.; Nguyen, A.; Shoope, S. 2024. A Reference Database of Reptile Images. Taxonomy 4: 723–732 - get paper here
  • Zweifel, Richard G. 1966. A New Lizard of the Genus Tribolonotus (Scincidae) from New Britain. American Museum Novitates 2264: 1-12. - get paper here
  • Brennan, I.G., Chapple, D.G., Keogh, J.S. & Donnellan, S. 2024. Evolutionary bursts drive morphological novelty in the world’s largest skinks. Current Biology 34, 3905-3916. - get paper here
 
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