Lygosoma tabonorum HEITZ, DIESMOS, FREITAS, ELLSWORTH & GRISMER, 2016
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Lygosoma tabonorum
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Lygosominae (Lygosomini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Palawan Supple Skink |
| Synonym | Lygosoma tabonorum HEITZ, DIESMOS, FREITAS, ELLSWORTH & GRISMER 2016 Lygosoma quadrupes — GAULKE 1999 Lygosoma quadrupes — LINKEM et al. 2010: 76 Lygosoma tabonorum — FREITAS et al. 2019 |
| Distribution | Philippines (Palawan, Cuyo island) Type locality: secondary growth forest, Santa Lucia Penal Colony, Barangay Santa Lucia, Municipality of Puerto Princesa, Palawan Province, Palawan Island, Philippines (9.7432698N, 118.6653068E, elevation 6 m above sea level; in all cases, datum 1⁄4 WGS84 |
| Reproduction | oviparous (predicted) |
| Types | Holotype: PNM 9820, adult male; Field no. ACD 7395; Figs. 3–5) collected on 10 November 2011 at 1100; Fig. 2), by ACD, E. Jose, and J.V. Bienen. Paratypes (paratopotypes): One adult male (PNM 9821) and two juveniles (PNM 9822, 9823) collected on 10 November 2011 by ACD, E. Jose, and J.V. Bienen. Other paratypes in PNM, CAS, MCZ, CAS-SUR, |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Lygosoma tabonorum can be distinguished from congeners by the following combination of morpho- logical characters: (1) body size small (SVL 1⁄4 60.0–79.0 mm); (2) limbs short (,5 mm); (3) SL 6 or 7; (4) IFL 5 or 6; (5) SC 5 or 6; (6) SO 4; (7) MBSRC 25 or 26; (8) AGSRC 83– 90; (9) PVSRC 106–111; (10) prefrontal contact absent; and (11) single, enlarged, fused frontoparietal (Tables 1 and 2 in Heitz et al. 2016). |
| Comment | Habitat: common in decaying logs and root networks around trees in forest fragments. Behavior: Individuals of the species were observed during daytime surveys after rotting log microhabitats were overturned by raking efforts. Once disturbed, individuals would move quickly in a serpentine motion to burrow into loose organic material and soil substrate. Sympatry: L. bowringii |
| Etymology | Named after the modern human (Homo sapiens) population that inhabited central Palawan Island, at the Municipality of Quezon, 24,000–22,000 yr before present (Fox 1970, 1978). Constituting the celebrated ‘‘Tabon Man,’’ Palawan human remains formerly were believed to represent the earliest documented evidence of human habitation in the archipelago. Although other northern Philippine localities are now recognized to possess the most ancient H. sapiens fossils, human paleontology and the search for ‘‘The first Filipino’’ had its inception in the Tabon Caves complex with the work of the National Museum of the Philippines in the late 1960s (Fox 1970, 1978). The specific epithet is masculine and plural, referring to the population of humans that inhabited the Tabon Caves complex. |
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