Oligosoma toka CHAPPLE, BELL, CHAPPLE, MILLER, DAUGHERTY & PATTERSON, 2011
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Oligosoma toka
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| Higher Taxa | Scincidae, Eugongylinae (Eugongylini), Scincoidea, Sauria, Squamata (lizards) |
| Subspecies | |
| Common Names | E: Nevis skink |
| Synonym | Oligosoma toka CHAPPLE, BELL, CHAPPLE, MILLER, DAUGHERTY & PATTERSON 2011 Oligosoma inconspicuum JEWELL 2008: 88 Leiolopisma inconspicuum PATTERSON & DAUGHERTY 1990: 66 Oligosoma toka — HITCHMOUGH et al. 2016 |
| Distribution | New Zealand Type locality: Schoolhouse Flat, Nevis Valley, (45° 11’S, 168° 59’E), New Zealand. |
| Reproduction | viviparous (not imputed, fide Zimin et al. 2022) |
| Types | Holotype: NMNZ RE007278, adult male (coll. T. Bell, 2009). |
| Diagnosis | Diagnosis: Oligosoma toka can be distinguished from other related Oligosoma species through a combination of characters (Figure 4 in CHAPPLE et al. 2011). Compared to O. maccanni, O. toka has a glossy appearance, with brown predominating whereas O. maccanni has a greyer ground colour. Oligosoma maccanni has a pale grey ventral colour rather than the yellow ventral colour seen in O. toka. The ear opening in O. maccanni often has large projecting scales on the interior margin, whereas these are often minimal or lacking altogether in O. toka. Oligosoma maccanni has four supraocular scales compared with three in O. toka, an unusually low number for New Zealand skinks. Sympatric O. polychroma have very similar colour patterns, but can be distinguished by a pale dorsal stripe on the outside of the forelimbs, and a greyish-brown ventral colouration. The ear opening in O. polychroma often has prominent projecting scales on the interior margin. There are statistical differences between O. toka and O. repens sp. nov. (SVL/HL, SVL/HLL, ventral scales, SE/EF), O. burganae (SVL/HLL, ventral scales), O. inconspicuum (SVL/FL, SVL/HLL, ventral scales), and O. notosaurus (ventral scales) (Figure 4). All O. toka have three supraoculars whereas all O. inconspicuum and O. notosaurus have four. The number of ventral scales in O. tekakahu (68) is fewer than O. toka (70–88), and the number of subdigital lamellae (16) is fewer than O. toka (17–23). The dorsal surface of the head is usually more strongly marked than in O. repens sp. nov., and the mid-dorsal and dorsolateral stripes in O. toka are more prominent than in O. repens [from CHAPPLE et al. 2011]. |
| Comment | |
| Etymology | From ‘toka’, the Maori word for rock or boulder. Refers to the rocky habitat on which this species occurs in the Nevis Valley. |
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