The Philippines represent an ideal region for examining the effects of geologic and climatic influences on evolutionary processes and the accumulation of new species. Though the monitor lizard is the target of conservation efforts, little research has looked at the geological processes which have shaped the evolution and distribution of this group. Asian water monitors (Varanus salvator Complex) are distributed throughout a...

The genus Brachymeles represents a unique radiation of semi-fossorial (burrowing) lizards, all but two of which are endemic to the Philippines in Southeast Asia. This radiation represents one of the best systems for studying the evolution of limb reduction and loss; body forms within the genus range from pentadactyl (five digits per limb) to externally limbless. Over the last decade, 21 new...

We review the species of the Brachymeles bonitae Complex (B. bonitae and B. tridactylus) and describe an additional two new species in this highly specialized, limb-reduced, endemic Philippine clade of fossorial lizards. For more than 4 decades, B. bonitae has been recognized as a single ‘‘widespread’’ species, a perception that has persisted as a result of limited sampling and similar overall morphology...

While new species are always being discovered, it is very uncommon to discover a completely new species of large-bodied vertebrates. Most large vertebrates have been discovered because there are so few places for them to remain hidden, with all the exploration that people and scientists have performed. Every year, there are fewer and fewer uncharted regions. Because it is so difficult for...

There are only four groups of scincid lizards at the genus level which have species that are fully limbed as well as species without limbs. All species are known to burrow and live in dry, rotting material inside decaying logs or in loose soil and leaves. Many different populations within the genus Brachymeles look very similar, so identifying separate species within this...

An understanding of the evolutionary processes that produce a region’s biodiversity is key to conservation. In Southeast Asia, there has been a lack of biodiversity surveys due to inaccessible forests and difficult areas to study. This, in addition to the slow pace of taxonomic work, logistical complications with field work, and the sheer amount of diversity in the area has led to...

Habitat destruction is a problem for all species, but it is especially detrimental to conservation efforts of large vertebrates with highly specialized habitats. Large-bodied sailfin lizards, which require lowland, costal and mangrove forests, have seen their suitable habitats shrink, leaving them with little area to live. In the past 75 years, degradation of the coastal forests and mangroves has lead to a...

Lamprolepis smaragdina is a tree-dwelling skink found throughout the Philippine Islands, eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and the islands of the West Pacific. One of three recognized subspecies, L. s. philippinica, is endemic to the Philippine islands, which means it is found in these islands and nowhere else in the world. Populations of this species range in color from green on the...

We utilize robust geographical genetic sampling, a multilocus dataset, a new synthesis of numerous fossil calibration points, a time-calibrated phylogeny, and the Dispersal–Extinction–Cladogenesis model to test the prediction that widespread Southeast Asian water monitor species initially diversified on the Asian mainland and subsequently invaded the island archipelagos of the Philippines, Sundaland, and Wallacea. Our results strongly contradict these expectations and instead infer...

Recent studies of forest lizards in Southeast Asia have highlighted spectacular morphological and cryptic genetic diversity in several poorly known clades. Unfortunately, many of the included species have microhabitat preferences for forested environments, and therefore they are threatened by extensive forest destruction throughout the region. This is particularly true in the Philippines, an archipelago with a strikingly high proportion (84%) of endemic...

We review the recent discovery of multiple populations of the enigmatic, semi-aquatic Sphenomorphus Group skink, Parvoscincus leucospilos Peters, and investigate the morphological and genetic diversity of isolated, allopatric populations of this unique skink. Our investigations support the recognition of four unique evolutionary lineages distributed across Luzon Island in the Philippines, three of which are herein described as new species (P. tikbalangi sp....