Shy highlander: a new species of the genus Scincella Mittleman, 1950 (Squamata, Scincidae) from montane forests of Yunnan Province, China

A new species of the genus Scincella Mittleman, 1950, is described from Yunnan Province, China, based on an integrative taxonomic approach combining morphological and molecular evidence. The new species, Scincella verecunda sp. nov., is diagnosed by a unique combination of morphological characters, including medium body size in adult females (maximum snout – vent length of 48.7 mm); palpebral disc absent; midbody scale rows 25–26; total ventral + gular scale rows numbering 65–68; paravertebral scale rows 62–65; 6–9 enlarged lamellae beneath finger IV, 11–13 beneath toe IV; in life, the dorsum brown and scattered with a few small dark spots, the lateral surface golden-yellow, bearing numerous distinct dark spots, which sometimes connect to form vermiform markings; the dark dorsolateral stripes irregular; and toes not in contact with fingers when limbs are adpressed.

Phylogenetic analyses based on concatenated mitochondrial gene sequences (12 S, 16 S, and CO 1) recover the new species as a distinct lineage, forming a clade with S. ouboteri Pham, Pham, Le, Ngoc, Ziegler & Nguyen, S. ochracea (Bourret), and S. reevesii (Gray). The new species status of this population is further supported by marked mitochondrial divergence from its closest relatives (≥ 6.3 % in 16 S and ≥ 16.6 % in CO 1) and is currently known only from high-elevation coniferous forest in Linxiang District, Lincang City, Yunnan Province, China (at elevations between 2,113 and 2,358 m a. s. l.).

Our data suggest that eyelid morphology may be homoplastic within Scincella and that not all Scincella species necessarily bear a palpebral disc on the lower eyelid. This finding underlines the need for reconsidering the morphological diagnosis of the genus Scincella and allied taxa of sphenomorphine skinks.