Marmorosphax kaala SADLIER, SMITH, BAUER & WHITAKER, 2009

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Higher Taxa	Scincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies
Common Names
Synonym	Marmorosphax kaala SADLIER, SMITH, BAUER & WHITAKER 2009
Distribution	New Caledonia (Mt. Kaala), elevation 400-600 m. Type locality: Mt. Kaala, (station 255), 20°38’48”S, 164°23’23”E.
Reproduction	viviparous (phylogenetic imputation, fide Zimin et al. 2022)
Types	Holotype: MNHN-RA 1987.1508
Diagnosis	Diagnosis: Marmorosphax kaala n. sp. can be distinguished from other members of the genus by the following combination of characters: dorsal scale rows 69; fourth toe lamellae 31-35; dorsal surface with dark markings along the paravertebral axis at the joining edge of scale rows three and four (sometimes restricted to the nape); lateral surface with pale markings aligned to form a broken mid-lateral stripe; underside of head with bold dark blotches on the throat. Marmorosphax kaala n. sp. most closely resembles Marmorosphax tricolor and M. taom n. sp. in colouration and scalation. The presence of dark markings along the paravertebral axis and the alignment of pale markings along the lateral surface to form a broken mid-lateral stripe distinguishes Marmorosphax kaala n. sp. from Marmorosphax taom n. sp. and Marmorosphax tricolor, both of which lack dark markings aligned along the dorsal surface and tend to have the pale markings on the side of the body scattered over the mid- to lower lateral surface. Scalation characters readily distinguish Marmorosphax kaala n. sp. from Marmorosphax boulinda n. sp. and Marmorosphax montana, both of which have more scales under the toes (see Table 1). The presence of pale markings aligned along the lateral surface to form a broken mid-lateral stripe further distinguishes Marmorosphax kaala n. sp. from Marmorosphax boulinda n. sp. and Marmorosphax montana, both of which have the pale markings on the lateral surface scattered or more transversely aligned.
Comment	Abundance: only known from its original description (Meiri et al. 2017). This is one of the species called 'lost' and 'rediscovered' by Lindken et al. 2024.
Etymology	The epithet is a noun in apposition in reference to the type locality, Mt. Kaala.
References	Lindken T.; Anderson, C. V., Ariano-Sánchez, D., Barki, G., Biggs, C., Bowles, P., Chaitanya, R., Cronin, D. T., Jähnig, S. C., Jeschke, J. M., Kennerley, R. J., Lacher, T. E. Jr., Luedtke, J. A., Liu, C., Long, B., Mallon, D., Martin, G. M., Meiri, 2024. What factors influence the rediscovery of lost tetrapod species? Global Change Biology, 30: 1-18 - get paper here Meiri, Shai; Aaron M. Bauer, Allen Allison, Fernando Castro-Herrera, Laurent Chirio, Guarino Colli, Indraneil Das, Tiffany M. Doan, Frank Glaw, Lee L. Grismer, Marinus Hoogmoed, Fred Kraus, Matthew LeBreton, Danny Meirte, Zoltán T. Nagy, Cristiano d 2017. Extinct, obscure or imaginary: the lizard species with the smallest ranges. Diversity and Distributions - get paper here Sadlier R. A., Smith, S.A.; Bauer A. M. & Whitaker A. H. 2009. Three new species of skink in the genus Marmorosphax Sadlier (Squamata: Scincidae) from New Caledonia. in Grandcolas, P. (ed.), Zoologia Neocaledonica 7. Biodiversity studies in New Caledonia. Mémoires du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle 198: 373-390 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 National Center for Biotechnology Information Google images

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