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Brachymeles bicolor (GRAY, 1845)

IUCN Red List - Brachymeles bicolor - Near Threatened, NT
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Higher TaxaScincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Two-colored Short-legged Skink 
SynonymSenira bicolor GRAY 1845: 98 (part.)
Senira bicolor — THEOBALD 1868: 27
Brachymeles bicolor — TAYLOR 1917: 272
Brachymeles bicolor — TAYLOR 1922
Brachymeles bicolor — BROWN & RABOR 1967
Brachymeles bicolor — BROWN et al. 2000
Brachymeles bicolor — PIANKA & VITT 2003: 215
Brachymeles bicolor — SILER et al. 2009 
DistributionPhilippines (Luzon)

Type locality: Philippines  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesSyntypes: BMNH 1946.8.20.62 (formerly xiv.72a), 1946.8.20.60-61 (formerly xv.72b-c), 1946.8.13.55 (formerly xv.72d), Philippines, collected H. Cuming. Type series composite, only 1946.8.20.62 represents the species now known as B. bicolor (see Siler et al., 2011). 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Habitus slender; snout to vent length 155 mm. for 2 mature specimens; limbs reduced with 5 clawed toes present on each foot, length of hind limb 9.7 to 11 per cent of snout-vent length (2 specimens); 28 rows of scales around the middle of the body; 92-94 rows of scale along the vertebral line between the parietals and the base of the tail (from BROWN 1956; updated definition in BROWN & RABOR 1967: 545).
 
CommentPentadactyl species.

Habitat: semifossorial and typically found in dry, rotting material inside or underneath decaying logs or in loose soil, forest floor detritus, and leaf litter of lowland forest. 
EtymologyPresumably named after the two color shades in the species, from Latin bi = two, and color. 
References
  • Brown WC & RABOR DS 1967. Review of the genus Brachymeles (Sauria), with descriptions of new species and subspecies. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (4) 34: 525-548 - get paper here
  • Brown, R.M.; C.H. Oliveros; C.D. Siler; J.B. Fernandez; L.J. Welton; P.A.C. Buenavente; M.L.L. Diesmos; A.C. Diesmos 2012. Amphibians and Reptiles of Luzon Island (Philippines), VII: Herpetofauna of Ilocos Norte Province, Northern Cordillera Mountain Range. Check List 8(3):469-490 - get paper here
  • Brown, R.M.; McGuire, J.A.; Ferner,J.W.; Icarangal Jr., N. & Kennedy, R.S. 2000. Amphibians and reptiles of Luzon island, II: preliminary report on the herptofauna of Aurora Memorial national Park, Philippines. Hamadryad 25 (2): 175-195 - get paper here
  • Brown, Walter C. 1956. A revision of the genus Brachymeles (Scincidae), with descriptions of new species and subspecies. Breviora (54): 1-19 - get paper here
  • Brown; Rafe; Cameron Siler, Carl Oliveros, Luke Welton, Ashley Rock, John Swab, Merlijn Van Weerd, Jonah van Beijnen, Dominic Rodriguez, Edmund Jose, Arvin Diesmos 2013. The amphibians and reptiles of Luzon Island, Philippines, VIII: the herpetofauna of Cagayan and Isabela Provinces, northern Sierra Madre Mountain Range. ZooKeys 266 (2013) Special Issue: 1-120<br>doi: 10.3897/zookeys.266.3982 - get paper here
  • Diesmos, A. C., R. M. Brown, and G. V. A. Gee 2005. Preliminary report on the amphibians and reptiles of Balbalasang-Balbalan National Park, Luzon Island, Philippines. Sylvatrop 13 (1&2): 63-80
  • Gojo-Cruz, Paul Henric P. and Leticia E. Afuang 2018. The Zoogeographic Significance of Caraballo Mountain Range, Luzon Island, Philippines With Focus on the Biogeography of Luzon’s Herpetofauna. Philippine Journal of Science 147 (3): 393-409 - get paper here
  • GOJO-CRUZ, Paul Henric P.; Leticia E. AFUANG, Juan Carlos T. GONZALEZ and William SM. GRUEZO 2018. Amphibians and Reptiles of Luzon Island, Philippines: the Herpetofauna of Pantabangan-Carranglan Watershed, Nueva Ecija Province, Caraballo Mountain Range. Asian Herpetological Research 9(4): 201–223 - get paper here
  • Gray, J. E. 1845. Catalogue of the specimens of lizards in the collection of the British Museum. Trustees of die British Museum/Edward Newman, London: xxvii + 289 pp. - 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
  • Schaper, E G; Bergmann, P; Morinaga, G; Fernandez, J; Smith, S N; Ellsworth, E D & Siler, C D; 2018. Brachymeles bicolor (Philippine Slender Skink) Diet. Herpetological Review 49 (4): 740-741 - get paper here
  • Siler, Cameron D.; Arvin C. Diesmos, Rafe M. Brown 2010. New Loam-Swimming Skink, Genus Brachymeles (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae) from Luzon and Catanduanes Islands, Philippines. Journal of Herpetology 44 (1): 49–60 - get paper here
  • Siler, Cameron D.; Arvin C. Diesmos, Angel C. Alcala and Rafe M. Brown 2011. Phylogeny of Philippine slender skinks (Scincidae: Brachymeles) reveals underestimated species diversity, complex biogeographical relationships, and cryptic patterns of lineage diversification. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 59 (1): 53-65 - get paper here
  • Siler, Cameron D.; Edmond L. Rico, Mariano R. Duya, and Rafe M. Brown 2009. A NEW LIMB-REDUCED, LOAM-SWIMMING SKINK (SQUAMATA: SCINCIDAE: BRACHYMELES) FROM CENTRAL LUZON ISLAND, PHILIPPINES. Herpetologica 65 (4): 449 - get paper here
  • Siler, Cameron D.; Ronald I. Crombie, Arvin C. Diesmos, and Rafe M. Brown 2011. Redescriptions of Two Poorly Known Slender Skinks, Brachymeles bicolor and Brachymeles pathfinderi (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae), from the Philippines. Journal of Herpetology 45 (3): 355-369. - get paper here
  • Taylor, E.H. 1922. The lizards of the Philippine Islands. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Bureau of Science, Government of the Philippine Islands, Manila, Publication no. 17: 269 pp. - get paper here
  • Taylor,E.H. 1917. Brachymeles, a genus of Philippine lizards. Philippine Journal of Science 12: 267-279 - get paper here
  • Theobald, William 1868. Catalogue of the reptiles of British Birma, embracing the provinces of Pegu, Martaban, and Tenasserim; with descriptions of new or little-known species. Zool. J. Linnean Soc. 10: 4-67. - get paper here
 
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