Scincella balluca BRAGIN, ZENIN, LE, NGUYEN, NGUYEN, BOBROV & POYARKOV, 2025
Can you confirm these amateur observations of Scincella balluca?
Scincella balluca
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Sphenomorphinae (Sphenomorphini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Golden Ground Skink Vietnamese: Thằn lằn ánh vàng |
| Synonym | Scincella balluca BRAGIN, ZENIN, LE, NGUYEN, NGUYEN, BOBROV & POYARKOV 2025 Scincella cf. doriae — POYARKOV & VASSILIEVA (2011: 219, in part). Scincella doriae — NEANG et al. 2018: 225 (in part) (non L. doriae BOULENGER 1887) |
| Distribution | S Vietnam Type locality: Ta Dung Mountain within Ta Dung National Park, Dak P’Lao Commune, Bich Khe District, Dak Nong Province, southern Vietnam (11.85029°N, 108.02750°E; elevation 1,880 m asl). |
| Reproduction | |
| Types | Holotype. ZMMU Re-18292 (field no. NAP-15389), adult male,collected by N.A. Poyarkov and A.M. Bragin on 24 January 2021. Paratypes (n = 8). Eight specimens collected from the same locality and with the same collection information as the holotype: five adult males VRTC NAP15328 (field no. NAP-15328), VRTC NAP15329 (field no. NAP-15329), VRTC NAP15330 (field no. NAP-15330), ZMMU Re-18293 (field no. NAP-15331), and VRTC NAP15390 (field no. NAP-15390); and three adult females ZMMU Re-18294 (field no. NAP-15321), VRTC NAP15386 (field no. NAP-15386), and ZMMU Re-18295 (field no. NAP-15391). Referred materials (n = 24): VRTC, ZMMU. |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Scincella balluca sp. nov. is distinguished from all other congeners by the following unique combination of morphological characters: (1) slender, medium-sized body, snout-vent length 46.1–57.9 mm; (2) prefrontals generally separated from each other (rarely in contact); (3) infralabials seven; (4) superciliaries seven (rarely eight); (5) two preoculars, two presuboculars, two postoculars, three postsuboculars (rarely four or five postsuboculars); (6) enlarged nuchals absent; (7) supralabials separated from the eye by a row of small scales; (8) tympanum deeply sunk without projecting lobules; (9) midbody scale rows 32 (rarely 30); (10) dorsal scales smooth, slightly enlarged, with 62–66 paravertebral scale rows; (11) 60–67 ventral scale rows (including gulars); (12) upper edge of the dorsolateral longitudinal stripes relatively straight, with six rows of dorsal scales in the middle; (13) enlarged, undivided lamellae beneath finger IV 10–12; (14) enlarged, undivided lamellae beneath toe IV 18–20; (15) two enlarged precloacal scales; (16) dorsal surface of body brown with sparsely scattered irregular black spots; (17) ventral surface of throat, belly, and base of tail golden yellow; (18) hemipenes bilobed with two asymmetrical lobes, longer lobe with regular transverse grooves and with terminal papillae. (Bragin et al. 2025) Unfortunately we had to temporarily remove additional information as this was scraped by multiple AI companies who sell that data to their customers. These details, e.g. detailed descriptions or comparisons (about 25758 characters) are available for collaborators and contributors. Please contact us for details. |
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