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Sphenomorphus simus SAUVAGE, 1879

IUCN Red List - Sphenomorphus simus - Least Concern, LC
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Higher TaxaScincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards)
Subspecies 
Common Names 
SynonymHinulia naevia – GRAY 1845 (part) (non Scincus naevius DUMÉRIL & BIBRON 1839)
Lygosoma (Hinulia) sima SAUVAGE 1879: 54
Lygosoma (Hinulia) variegatum – BOULENGER 1887 (part) (non Lygosoma (Hinulia) variegatum PETERS 1867)
Lygosoma simum — DE ROOIJ 1915: 193
Lygosoma misolense VOGT 1928: 334
Lygosoma totocarinatum VOGT 1932: 286
Otosaurus simum — SMITH 1937: 218
Lygosoma sinus [sic] — GIBSON-HILL 1940
Lygosoma (Sphenomorphus) variegatus stickeli LOVERIDGE 1948: 345
Lygosoma (Sphenomorphus) variegatus jobiense – LOVERIDGE 1948 (non Lygosoma (Hinulia) variegatum PETERS 1867, non Lygosoma (Hinulia) jobiensis MEYER 1874)
Sphenomorphus simus – MITTLEMAN 1952
Sphenomorphus stickeli – MITTLEMAN 1952
Sphenomorphus totocarinatus – MITTLEMAN 1952
Sphenomorphus melanopleurus INGER 1958
Sphenomorphus stickeli melanopleurus — INGER 1961
Sphenomorphus totocarinatus — GREER & PARKER 1967
Sphenomorphus simus — GREER & PARKER 1967
Sphenomorphus stickeli — MYS 1988: 146
Sphenomorphus stickeli — ADLER, AUSTIN & DUDLEY 1995
Sphenomorphus simus — WHITING et al. 2003
Sphenomorphus misolensis — BAUER et al. 2003
Sphenomorphus misolense — LINKEM et al. 2010 
DistributionIndonesia (Misool, Irian Jaya, Yapen and Numfoor), Papua New Guinea

Type locality: L'ile Mafor, Nouvelle Guinee [= Namfoor Island]

melanopleurus; Type locality: Marienberg, Sepik River [East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea].

misolense: Indonesia (Misool); Type locality: “Insel Misol, Molukken” [= Misool Island]

stickeli: Papua New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland, New Hanover, Bismarck Archipelago; Type locality: Gusiko [Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea].

totocarinatum: Type locality: [Sepik River, Papua New Guinea, fde Shea & Greer 1999]  
Reproductionoviparous 
TypesLectotype: MNHN-RA 1996.1114 (designated by SHEA & GREER 1999); from syntypes MNHN-RA 5266 (formerly 5 specimens under that collection number) now respectively MNHN-RA 5266, MNHN-RA 1996.1114 [formerly MNHN-RA 5266A], MNHN-RA 1996.1115 [formerly MNHN-RA 5266B], MNHN-RA 1996.1116 [formerly MNHN-RA 5266C] and MNHN-RA 1996.1117 [formerly MNHN-RA 5266D]
Holotype: ZMB 25768; Deutsch-Neu-Guinea [totocarinatum]
Lectotype: ZMB 31523, designated by Shea 2017 [misolense]
Holotype: MCZ 49326 [stickeli]
Holotype: FMNH 78383, paratype: MSNG 37646 [melanopleurus] 
DiagnosisDiagnosis (melanopleurus). A slender Sphenomorphus with no auricular lobules; usually 7 supraoculars, 14-16 supraciliaries, 8 supralabials, 25-28 scales under fourth toe, 38-42 scale rows; a more or less continuous black dorsolateral stripe from snout to base of tail; lips not barred. (Inger 1958)


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CommentSynonymy partly after SHEA & GREER 1999 and Shea 2017. Loveridge (1948), without examining the types, considered Lygosoma misolense synonymous with what he regarded as Lygosoma (Sphenomorphus) variegatum jobiense Meyer (Loveridge’s material is now assigned to Sphenomorphus simus; he applied the name jobiense to the wrong taxon). However, until the type material is more adequately described, BAUER et al. (2003) prefer to maintain Vogt’s species as distinct. However, Shea 2017 formally synonymized misolense with simus. 
References
  • Adler,G.H.; Austin,C.C. & Dudley,R. 1995. Dispersal and speciation of skinks among archipelagos in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Evolutionary Ecology 9: 529-541 - get paper here
  • Bauer, A.M., Shea, G.M., and Günther, R. 2003. An annotated catalogue of the types of scincid lizards (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae) in the collection of the Museum für Naturkunde der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (ZMB). Zoologische Reihe. Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin 79:253-321 - get paper here
  • de Rooij, N. de 1915. The Reptiles of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. I. Lacertilia, Chelonia, Emydosauria. Leiden (E. J. Brill), xiv + 384 pp. - get paper here
  • Gibson-Hill, C.A. 1947. The terrestrial reptiles [of the Christmas Islands]. Bull. Raffles Mus. No 18: 81-86
  • Greer,A.E. & Parker,F. 1967. A new scincid lizard from the northern Solomon Islands. Breviora (275): 1-20 - get paper here
  • Inger, R. F. 1958. Three new skinks related to Sphenomorphus variegatus (PETERS). Fieldiana: Zoology 39 (24): 257-268. - get paper here
  • Inger,R.F. 1961. Notes on two New Guinean lizards of the genus Sphenomorphus. Fieldiana: Zoology 39: 539-542 - get paper here
  • Iskandar D. 1994. New scincid lizard of the genus Sphenomorphus (Reptilia, Scincidae), from Java [S. puncticentralis]. Treubia 31 (1): 25-30. - get paper here
  • Linkem, C.W.; Diesmos, A.C.; Brown, R.M. 2010. A NEW SPECIES OF SCINCID LIZARD (GENUS SPHENOMORPHUS) FROM PALAWAN ISLAND, PHILIPPINES. Herpetologica 66 (1): 67–79 - get paper here
  • Loveridge, A. 1948. New Guinean reptiles and amphibians in the Museum of Comparative Zoology and United States National Museum. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard 101 (2): 305-430. - 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
  • Read, John L. 1998. Reptiles and amphibians of the Kau Wildlife Area near Madang: a valuable conservation resource. Science in New Guinea 23 (3): 145-152
  • Sauvage, H. E. 1879. Notice sur quelques reptiles nouveaux ou peu connus de la Nouvelle-Guinee. [Elania annulata]. Bull. Soc. philom. Paris (7) 3: 47-61 - get paper here
  • SHEA, Glenn M. 2017. The identity of Lygosoma (Hinulia) misolense Vogt, 1928 (Squamata: Scincidae). Biodiversity, Biogeography and Nature Conservation in Wallacea and New Guinea 3: 21-26 - get paper here
  • Shea,G. & Greer,A. 1999. Two senior synonyms and a name change for the New Guinea Skink Sphenomorphus stickeli (LOVERIDGE 1948). Journal of Herpetology 33 (1): 136-141 - get paper here
  • Smith, M.A. 1937. A review of the genus Lygosoma (Scincidae: Reptilia) and its allies. Records of the Indian Museum 39 (3): 213-234
  • Vogt, Theodor 1928. Über einige Eidechsen der Molukkeninsel Misol. Zool. Anz. 76 (11/12): 333-335
  • Vogt,T. 1932. Beitrag zur Reptilienfauna der ehemaligen Kolonie Deutsch-Neuguinea. Sitzungsber. Gesell. Naturf. Freunde Berlin 5-7: 281-294
  • Whitaker, R.; Whitaker,Z. & Mills,D. 1982. Reptiles of Papua New Guinea. Wildlife in New Guinea (82/2): 1-53
  • Whiting, A.S.; Aaron M. Bauer and Jack W. Sites, Jr. 2003. Phylogenetic relationships and limb loss in sub-Saharan African scincine lizards (Squamata: Scincidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 29 (3): 582-598 - get paper here
 
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