摘要
Despite continuous progress made on the taxonomy of the genus Tropidophorus, the Lao Water Skink, T. laotus, is only known from brief descriptions of its syntypes in historical literature. Here we designate a lectotype and paralectotype of the species, redescribe the species based on the type series and newly collected topotypes, provide the first colored photographs of taxonomically-verified individuals, and estimate its phylogenetic position using mitochondrial DNA data for the first time.Using these comparable data, we confirm that the previously identified “T. berdmorei” population from southern Yunnan Province, China, represents a distinct new species that is closely related and morphologically similar to T. laotus, but differs from true T. laotus by having considerable genetic divergence(4.7%–4.8% for 12S, 3.2%–4.2% for 16S)and distinct morphological characters(e.g., undivided frontonasal scales and a distinct color pattern of the throat). The southern Yunnan population is therefore described as a new species. With the above newly acquired data, we update the checklist and the provincial-level distribution of the genus Tropidophorus in China and compile an updated key to all recognized species of the genus from China and Indochina.
基金
support by the National Science Foundation of China (32130015)
Yunnan Revitalization Talent Support Program Yunling Scholar Project
the Animal Branch of the Germplasm Bank of Wild Species, Chinese Academy of Sciences (the Large Research Infrastructure Funding) to Jing CHE,Biological Resources Programme, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yunnan Revitalization Talent Support Program Young Talent Project
CAS Special Research Assistant (SRA) Program
Program of Yunnan Forestry and Grassland Administration (2022GF258D-10)
Small Grant Program for New Records and Rediscoveries of Rare Species by Tencent Foundation
Shanshui Conservation Center to Kai WANG
U.S. National Science Foundation (grant DEB1145922)
the Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) Science program (grant PGA-2000003545), which is a partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. National Science Foundation to Bryan L. STUART。
