| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Scincinae, Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Pathfinder Short-legged Skink |
| Synonym | Brachymeles pathfinderi TAYLOR 1925
Brachymeles pathfinderi — BROWN & RABOR 1967
Brachymeles pathfinderi — BROWN & ALCALA 1980: 24
Brachymeles pathfinderi — SILER et al. 2009 |
| Distribution | Philippines (Mindanao)
Type locality: Glan, Cotabato Province, Mindanao Island
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| Reproduction | ovovivparous |
| Types | Holotype: MCZ 26581 |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Habitus slender; snout to vent length 58-61 mm. for 3 mature specimens; limbs greatly reduced with vestiges of five clawed toes on the fore limbs and four on the hind limbs, length of hind limb 13.6-17.2 per cent of snout-vent length (3 specimens); ear opening minute; no postnasal; 22-23 scale rows around the middle of the body; 59-67 scale rows along the vertebral line between the parietals and the base of the tail (from BROWN 1956).
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| Comment | Limb morphology: reduced limbs.
Habitat: semifossorial and typically found in dry, rotting material inside or underneath decaying logs or in loose soil, forest floor detritus, and leaf litter of lowland forest. |
| Etymology | Named after the steamship Pathfinder. |
| References |
- Beolens, Bo; Michael Watkins, and Michael Grayson 2011. The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA - get paper here
- Brown WC & RABOR DS 1967. Review of the genus Brachymeles (Sauria), with descriptions of new species and subspecies. Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. (4) 34: 525-548 - get paper here
- Brown, Walter C. 1956. A revision of the genus Brachymeles (Scincidae), with descriptions of new species and subspecies. Breviora (54): 1-19 - get paper here
- Brown, WC. & A.C. ALCALA 1980. Philippine Lizards of the family Scincidae. Silliman Univ. Nat. Sci., Dumaguete City, Mon., Ser. 2: i-xi + 1-246.
- Daan, S. & Hillenius,D. 1966. Catalogue of the type specimens of amphibians and reptiles in the Zoological Museum, Amsterdam. Beaufortia 13: 117-144
- Siler, Cameron D.; Arvin C. Diesmos, Angel C. Alcala and Rafe M. Brown 2011. Phylogeny of Philippine slender skinks (Scincidae: Brachymeles) reveals underestimated species diversity, complex biogeographical relationships, and cryptic patterns of lineage diversification. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 59 (1): 53-65 - get paper here
- Siler, Cameron D.; Edmond L. Rico, Mariano R. Duya, and Rafe M. Brown 2009. A NEW LIMB-REDUCED, LOAM-SWIMMING SKINK (SQUAMATA: SCINCIDAE: BRACHYMELES) FROM CENTRAL LUZON ISLAND, PHILIPPINES. Herpetologica 65 (4): 449 - get paper here
- Siler, Cameron D.; Ronald I. Crombie, Arvin C. Diesmos, and Rafe M. Brown 2011. Redescriptions of Two Poorly Known Slender Skinks, Brachymeles bicolor and Brachymeles pathfinderi (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae), from the Philippines. Journal of Herpetology 45 (3): 355-369. - get paper here
- Taylor,E.H. 1925. Additions to the herpetological fauna of the Philippines, IV. Philippine J. Sci. 26: 97-111
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