v9i1.218

Submitted date: 17 April 2020
Accepted date: 30 April 2020
Published date: 21 May 2020
Pp. 23–30, pls. 9–11.

A NEW SPECIES OF Lankascincus GREER, 1991 (REPTILIA : SCINCIDAE) FROM THE RAKWANA HILLS OF SRI LANKA

L.J. Mendis Wickramasinghe*, Dulan Ranga Vidanapathirana & Nethu Wickramasinghe
*Corresponding author. E-mail: mendi.w@ime.edu.lk

Abstract
A new species of the endemic scincid lizard genus Lankascincus from the Rakwana hills of Sri Lanka, is described. The new species is distinguished from its congeners by possessing the following combination of characters: maximum SVL less than 35.0 mm, prefrontals in broad contact, seven supralabials, last supralabial scale split, 24 mid-body scale rows, 46–48 paravertebrals, 49–51 ventrals, 13–16 lamellae on fourth toe, and a conspicuous dark brown band from snout to mid-tail, gradually fading posteriad. The number of palpebral scales around eye is used as a meristic character in the genus Lankascincus for the first time.

Key words : Central highlands, rainforest, Ristella, South Asia, systematics, taxonomy

Section Editor: Jakob Hallermann
LSID:urn:lsid:zoobank.org