A new species of slender skink is described from the Philippines. The species is endemic to Lubang Island, and is assigned to the Brachymeles bonitae Complex based on phenotypic and genetic data. Specimens were collected from Lubang Island between 1991 and 2012, and were examined based on morphological data (qualitative traits, meristic counts, and mensural measurements). Published genetic sequence data from phylogenetic...

Studies of the diversity of Philippine amphibians and reptiles have resulted in the continued description of cryptic species. Species formerly thought to range across multiple recognized faunal regions are now considered to be assemblages of multiple unique species, each restricted to a single faunal region. This pattern continues to hold true when considering Philippine skinks of the genus Brachymeles. Recent studies have...

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was...

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Cameron Siler and art professor Dr. Peter Froslie have teamed up to create a fantastic new course entitled “Brunei – At the Intersection of Science and Art: Understanding Biodiversity and Conservation” in Summer 2017 (BIO 4970/ART 4823).  Brunei is on the island of Borneo, which cnontains a unique tropical rainforest that is home to 6% of the total world biodiversity, and includes such...

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Kai Wang, recent graduate of Washington State University, will be joining the Siler Lab in July 2015 as a Master’s Student.  Prior to his arrival here in Oklahoma, Kai spent time in the field in China and Tibet. Kai was in western Yunnan Province (specifically Tenchong and Husa) in China, from April 15-25 doing an independent research study on a species of Tylotriton newt....

  Elyse Freitas and I are halfway through a three week visit to Southeast Asia.  We spent a week in Thailand working with collaborators and visiting a wonderful national park (Sakaerat Research Station), and now are in the Philippines.  During our visit to Sakaerat, we encountered an amazing swarm of butterflies of various species, all of which were, well, quite friendly… Internet is...

During our 5 week expedition across Gabon our team increased Gabon’s national amphibian collection by 67%. We contributed specimens from three previously unrepresented provinces in Gabon. In response to this massive influx of specimens, the Smithsonian Institute—who is currently managing Gabon’s national collection—flew us down to Gamba to help catalogue and reorganize the museum with its curator Elie Tobi. The museum in...