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Species diversity in skinks in the genus Brachymeles recently has undergone a state of flux, with numerous taxonomic discoveries over the past few years. Newly available, robust data sets from morphological data and molecular sequences have revealed that taxonomic diversity within this unique groupof lizards is substantially underestimated. In this third recent monographic revision of a major Brachymeles clade, we review the...

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Aim Widespread species found in disturbed habitats are often expected to be human commensals. In island systems, this association predicts that dispersal will be mediated by humans. We investigated the biogeographical relationships among populations of a widespread tree skink that inhabits coastal forest and human-cultivated plantations in Southeast Asia. We sought to determine whether populations of the emerald tree skink, Lamprolepis smaragdina,...

The closed-canopy forests of Southeast Asia are home to an impressive number of vertebrates that have independently evolved morphologies that enhance directed aerial descent (gliding, parachuting). These assemblages include numerous mammal, frog, snake, and lizard clades. Several genera of gekkonid lizards, in particular, have evolved specialized structures such as cutaneous expansions, flaps, and midbody patagia, that enhance lift generation in the context...

Some of Southeast Asia’s most poorly known vertebrates include forest lizards that are rarely seen by field biologists. Arguably the most enigmatic of forest lizards from the Indo Australian archipelago are the Flap-legged geckos and the Flying geckos of the genera Luperosaurus and Ptychozoon. As new species have accumulated, several have been noted for their bizarre combination of morphological characteristics, seemingly intermediate...

Aim We examine the genetic diversity within the lizard genus Gekko in the Philippine islands to understand the role of geography and geological history in shaping species diversity in this group.Wetest multiple biogeographical hypotheses of species relationships, including the recently proposed Palawan Ark Hypothesis. Location Southeast Asia and the Philippines. Methods Samples of all island endemic and widespread Philippine Gekko species were...

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We redescribe the exceedingly rare, tetradactyl Philippine scincid lizards of the genus Brachymeles. Before the recent discovery of a second museum specimen of Brachymeles wrighti, and the rediscovery of B. elerae in the wild, these two species were known from a combined three museum specimens, all collected in the early 1900s. Since that time, biotic surveys in the region, including recent efforts...

Brachymeles bicolor (Gray 1845), from the Sierra Madre Mountain Range of Luzon Island, and Brachymeles pathfinderi Taylor 1925, from southern Mindanao Island, are among the most distinctive species in the genus, representing the largest species and one of only two known nonpentadactyl species with unequal digit numbers respectively. However, both species are inadequately diagnosed, based on a total of only five specimens....

The spectacular, virtually endemic radiation of Philippine semi-fossorial skinks of the genus Brachymeles represent one of the few radiations of scincid lizards to possess both fully limbed and limbless species. And yet, nothing is known of the phylogenetic relationships of this exceptional group. Morphologically similar body plans have made it difficult to assess species-level diversity, and the genus has long been recognized...