Dibamus ingeri, Das & Lim, 2003

Das, Indraneil & Lim, Kelvin K. P., 2003, Two New Species Of Dibamus (Squamata: Dibamidae) From Borneo, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 51 (1), pp. 137-141 : 138-139

Dibamus ingeri , new species

( Fig. 1 )

Material examined. – Holotype - FMNH 239756 , km 13.9, Mendolong Camp (04º 45’N; 115º 40’E), Sipitang District, Sabah, East Malaysia (Borneo); adult male; coll. R. F. Inger & Tan Fui Lian, 2 Aug.1989. The type locality is shown in Fig. 3 .

Diagnosis. – SVL 96.0 mm in the single male examined; body relatively stout, body width 4.7% SVL, postoculars two; midbody scale rows 20; subcaudals 36; frontonasal divided; incomplete rostral sutures, preanal pores absent; nuchal collar starts from back of head, and tail relatively short (14.8% SVL).

Description (based on the holotype). – SVL 96.0 mm, TL 14.2 mm; snout bluntly rounded, distinctly conical (IN/IO ratio 0.41), projecting beyond jaws; nostril laterally oriented, oval, situated closer to snout-tip than to orbit (E-N/E-S ratio 0.68); head shorter than wide (HL/HW ratio 0.81), not flattened (HL/HD ratio 0.88); rostral pad with a large number of evenly distributed sensory papillae, nasal and labial sutures complete, extending from ocular to nostril; posterior border of rostral curved; frontonasal divided, width 0.6 mm; frontal single, width 0.9 mm, wider than long, x 1.50 times wider than frontonasal; interparietal single, not enlarged, narrower than frontonasal and frontal, posteriorly bordered by three slightly smaller nuchal scales; postoculars two; supralabial single, elongated, bordering ocular ventrally; infralabial lanceolate, length 2.6 mm (infralabial length/HW ratio 0.70), the pair separated by a smaller, trapezoid mental; scales bordering posterior edge of infralabial, three bilaterally; ear opening absent; eyes dimly visible through ocular; tongue short, undivided anteriorly, pointed; teeth small, acute.

Measurements (in mm). – SVL 96.0; BW 4.5; TL 14.2; TW 6.0; E-N 1.9; E-S 2.8; IN 1.1; 1O 2.7; HL 3.0; HW 3.7; HD 3.4.

Colouration. – Colour in life unknown. In preservative, dorsum tan brown, unpatterned, except on posterior half of body, which has pale linear blotches; venter slightly paler; snout-tip, sides of head, including supralabials, throat, hindlimbs and preanal region yellowish-cream; wide nuchal band cream, its anterior edge 8.9 mm from snout-tip, corresponding to the back of head, measuring 14.5 mm at its greatest width dorsally, 16.8 mm ventrally, with a few brown linear blotches.

Etymology. – The species name honours Robert Frederick Inger, Curator Emeritus at the Division of Herpetology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, and also the collector of the holotype of the new species.

Natural history. – The holotype of the new species was found inside a rotting log, in a disturbed forest, at around 1,180 m ASL ( R. F. Inger, pers. comm., 2002). Mendolong, situated in western Sabah State, has been selectively logged (Inger & Voris, 1993) .

Figures

Fig. 1. Head of holotype of Dibamus ingeri, new species (FMNH 239756) in dorsal (top), lateral (middle) and ventral (bottom) views. Scale bars = 5 mm.

Fig. 3. Relief map of Borneo, showing the type localities of Dibamus ingeri, new species, at Mendolong (1) and Dibamus vorisi, new species, at Danum Valley (2), both within Sabah State, East Malaysia.