A new legless loam-swimming lizard (Reptilia: Squamata: Scincidae: Genus Brachymeles) from the Bicol Peninsula, Luzon Island, Philippines

A new limbless species of scincid lizard of the genus Brachymeles is described from Mt. Labo, Bicol Peninsula, Luzon Island, Philippines. The species was encountered only on this isolated volcanic peak and is conspicuously absent from surrounding, well-surveyed regions of the Bicol Peninsula. The new species is the fourth known limbless species of Brachymeles and the third to be discovered in the Philippines. It is the second longest limbless species of Brachymeles, and, aside from size, can be distinguished from all congeners by features of its external morphology, including both color and scalation. The discovery brings the total number of known Brachymeles species in the Luzon Faunal Region to eleven, including two limbless forms.