Tytthoscincus temasekensis Grismer, Wood, Lim & Liang, 2017

Figueroa, Alex, Low, Martyn E. Y. & Lim, Kelvin K. P., 2023, Singapore’s herpetofauna: updated and annotated checklist, history, conservation, and distribution, Zootaxa 5287 (1), pp. 1-378 : 126-127

Tytthoscincus temasekensis Grismer, Wood, Lim & Liang, 2017 — Native.

Tytthoscincus temasekensis Grismer, Wood, Lim & Liang, 2017: 578 . Holotype. ZRC 2.6490 , by original designation; paratypes (4): ZRC 2.2557 , 2.3959 , 2.667 , and 2.7111, by original designation. Type locality: “ Pasir Laba Road , Singapore (N 01°19.526’, E 103°40.212’; 24 m elevation)”.

Singapore Swamp Skink

( Figure 15C )

Singapore records.

Lygosoma sp. —K. Lim, 1990a: 10 (Nee Soon Swamp Forest).—P.K.L. Ng & K.K.P. Lim, 1992: 260.— R.C.H. Teo & Rajathurai, 1997: 387.

Sphenomorphus sp. —K.P. Lim & F.L.K. Lim, 2002: 149.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2008: 54, 160.—K.K.P. Lim et al., 2008: 265.—N. Baker & K.P. Lim, 2012: 160.—N. Baker, 2013b: 59 (“forest north of MacRitchie Reservoir” [ MNF]).—Serin, 2015a: 28 (Sime Track [ SRF]).

“Undescribed species of Lygosoma ”— Davison, 2011: 110.

Tytthoscincus cf. sibuensis —L.L. Grismer et al., 2016: 235, 239.—L.L. Grismer et al., 2018: 637.

Tytthoscincus temasekensis L.L. Grismer, Wood, Lim & Liang, 2017: 574–584 (Lorong Banir [SF]; Nee Soon Swamp; Pasir Laba Road; Upper Seletar Reservoir Park).—L.L. Grismer & Quah, 2019: 242 .— Janssen & Sy, 2022: 133, 171.

Remarks. When the first two specimens of T. temasekensis were first found on 30 April and 28 December 1989 at NSSF, there was uncertainty regarding its identity and it was questionably identified as a Lygosoma ( Lim 1990a) . Subsequently, it was designated as T. cf. sibuensis given similarities in morphology, habitat, and geographic proximity ( Grismer et al. 2016). Based on morphological and molecular analyses from a specimen collected at Pasir Laba, Grismer et al. (2017) described the Singapore population, along with a population from Tanjung Malim, Peninsular Malaysia, as a new species ( Table 1 ). Each of the records presented here, including museum records, are covered in Grismer et al. (2017), except for one photographed on a tree at BTNR on 3 July 2009 (H.H. Tan pers. comm.) and Figure 15C (photographed at OUTR on 27 January 2019; S. Rasu pers. comm.). Interestingly, ZRC.2.6859 was extracted out of the gut of an Ahaetulla mycterizans . This observation is notable because T. temasekensis is semiaquatic ( Grismer et al. 2017), whereas A. mycterizans is arboreal ( Baker & Lim 2012), meaning that either T. temasekensis also climbs trees, as exhibited in the BTNR record mentioned above, or A. mycterizans also hunts on the ground. As A. mycterizans is quite common and never observed on the ground, it is more likely that T. temasekensis exhibits arboreal tendencies.

Occurrence. Restricted to a few swampy areas in and around CNR and WC. Rare.

Singapore conservation status. Endangered.

Conservation priority. Highest.

IUCN conservation status. Not Evaluated.

LKCNHM & NHMUK Museum specimens. Lorong Banir [= SF]: ZRC.2.3959 (24-May-1994) ; Nee Soon Swamp Forest : ZRC.2.2557 (28-Dec-1989) , ZRC.2.2667 (30-Apr-1990) , ZRC.2.7152 (23-Oct-1999) ; Old Upper Thomson Road : ZRC.2.6859 (no date); Pasir Laba Road: ZRC.2.6490 (21-Jun-2006) ; Upper Seletar Reservoir Park : ZRC.2.7111 (12-Sep-2015) .

Additional Singapore museum specimens. No specimens.

Singapore localities. Bukit Timah Nature Reserve—MacRitchie North Forest—Nee Soon Swamp Forest—Old Upper Thomson Road—Pasir Laba Road—Sime Road Forest—Springleaf Forest—Upper Seletar Reservoir Park.

Family Varanidae Hardwicke & Gray, 1827 (3 species)

Varanidae Hardwicke & Gray, 1827: 225 (type genus Varanus Merrem, 1820 ).

Genus Varanus Merrem, 1820 (3 species)

Varanvs Merrem, 1820: 58 (type species: Lacerta varia G. Shaw in White, 1790, by subsequent designation by Gray, 1827: 55; gender masculine).

Figures

FIGURE 15. A) Lipinia vittigera, B) Subdoluseps bowringii, C) Tytthoscincus temasekensis, D) Varanus dumerilii, E) Varanus nebulosus, F) Varanus salvator, G) Acrochordus granulatus, and H) Ahaetulla fasciolata. Photographs by:Alex Figueroa [A–B, F], Shivaram Rasu [C], Law Ing Sind [D, G], Thio Hui Bing [E], and Lena S.Y. Chow [H].