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Brachymeles burksi TAYLOR, 1917

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Higher TaxaScincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common NamesE: Burks’ Burrowing Skink 
SynonymBrachymeles burksi TAYLOR 1917: 275
Brachymeles burksi — TAYLOR 1922: 255
Brachymeles bonitae — BROWN 1956: 5
Brachymeles bonitae — BROWN & RABOR 1967: 526
Brachymeles bonitae — BROWN & ALCALA 1970: 112
Brachymeles bonitae — BROWN & ALCALA 1980: 20
Brachymeles bonitae — SILER & BROWN 2010: 1
Brachymeles bonitae — SILER et al. 2009: 449
Brachymeles bonitae — SILER et al. 2010a: 49
Brachymeles bonitae — SILER et al. 2010b: 114
Brachymeles bonitae — SILER et al. 2011a: 53
Brachymeles bonitae — SILER et al. 2011b: 76
Brachymeles bonitae — SILER et al. 2011c: 356
Brachymeles bonitae — SILER et al. 2011d: 300
Brachymeles bonitae — SILER et al. 2012a: 135
Brachymeles bonitae — DAVIS et al. 2014: 480
Brachymeles bonitae — GEHEBER et al. 2016: 1
Brachymeles bonitae — SILER et al. 2016: 15
Brachymeles burksi — WAGNER et al. 2018
Brachymeles burksi — SILER et al. 2020 
DistributionPhilippines (Mindoro, Marinduque).

Type locality: Barangay Sumagui (Liddell Plantation), Municipality of Bansud, Oriental Mindoro Province, Mindoro Island, Philippines  
Reproductionovovivparous 
TypesHolotype: Carnegie Museum, CM 1975; Paratypes: MCZ R-26584, R-26585, CAS, CM. Other specimens: CAS, CM, MCZ, KU 
DiagnosisDiagnosis: Following recent taxonomic revisions of Brachymeles (Davis et al. 2014, 2016; Geheber et al. 2016; Siler et al. 2016), the new species is assigned to the B. bonitae complex based on the following suite of morphological characters: (1) limbs present, (2) non-pentadactyl, (3) paravertebral scale rows ≥ 91, (4) presacral vertebrae 51, (5) supraoculars four, (6) enlarged, differentiated nuchals present, (7) longitudinal rows of dark spots around the body absent, and (8) auricular opening absent. Brachymeles burksi can be distinguished from congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) body size small (SVL 58.4–77.5 mm), (2) fore-limbs digitless, (3) hind limbs digitless, (4) limb length short, (5) supralabials six, (6) infralabials five or six, (7) superciliaries five, (8) supraoculars four, (9) midbody scale rows 21–24, (10) axilla–groin scale rows 74–85, (11) paravertebral scale rows 91–102, (12) prefrontal contact absent, (13) frontoparietal contact absent, (14) enlarged chin shields in three pairs, (15) nuchals enlarged, (16) auricular opening absent, (17) presacral vertebrae 51, and (18) uniform body color (Tables 3, 4 in Siler et al. 2020).

Comparisons: Brachymeles burksi can be distinguished from all limbless species of Brachymeles by having limbs, and from all pentadactyl and reduced-digit species of Brachymeles by having digitless foreand hind limbs. Among the species in the B. bonitae complex, B. burksi can be distinguished from B. dalawangdaliri, B. isangdaliri, B. ligtas, and B. tridactylus by having digitless foreand hind limbs (versus being unidactyl [B. isangdaliri], bidactyl on the fore-limbs [B. dalawangdaliri, B. ligtas], or tridactyl [B. tridactylus]); from B. bonitae by having fewer presacral vertebrae (51 versus 53), fewer paravertebral scale rows (91–102 versus 103–110), and by the absence (versus presence) of a fused mental with the 1st infralabial scale; from B. dalawangdaliri by having more presacral vertebrae (51 versus 49), and by the presence of three paired enlarged chin shields (versus two); from B. ilocandia by tending towards having a smaller body size and shorter limbs based on separation along the axis of PC2 in multivariate analyses (Fig. 2); from B. isangdaliri by having more presacral vertebrae (51 versus 47), more axilla–groin scale rows (>74 versus 73), fewer supraciliaries (five versus 6), and by the presence of three paired enlarged chin shields (versus two); from B. ligtas by having more presacral vertebrae (51 versus 50), a smaller relative tail length (61–93% versus 97–102%), and by the absence of medial contact between frontoparietals (versus presence); from B. mapalanggaon by tending towards having a larger body size and longer limbs based on separation along the axis of PC2 in multivariate analyses (Fig. 2); and from B. tridactylus by having shorter fore-limbs (0.9–1.5 mm versus 1.5 –2.5 mm), shorter hind limbs (1.2–1.9 mm versus 2.6–3.6 mm), and more presacral vertebrae (51 versus 47; Tables 3,4 in Siler et al. 2020). 
CommentLimb morphology: digitless limbs

Synonymy: B. burksi was synonymized with B. bonitae by Brown 1956 but revalidated by Siler et al. 2020. 
EtymologyTaylor named the Mindoro species for his friend and colleague Mr. Clark Burks (Philippine Bureau of Science) who helped with collections in western Mindoro during an ill-fated expedition to Mindoro, which included being caught in a typhoon with depleted food reserves and crew illness and subsequent death due to an outbreak of cholera (Taylor et al. 1975). 
References
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