Lerista kalumburu Storr, 1976

Amey, Andrew P. & Wilmer, Jessica Worthington, 2014, Morphological diversity and genetic structure within Lerista kalumburu Storr, 1976 (Squamata: Scincomorpha: Sphenomorphidae) — taxonomic implications, Zootaxa 3821 (2), pp. 239-252 : 248-249

Lerista kalumburu Storr, 1976

Kalumburu Kimberley Slider Figure 3

Holotype: WAMR 27915, Kalumburu , Western Australia, 14° 18' S, 126° 38' E, collected by Mr W.H. Butler, austral summer 1965–1966. Elevation (estimated from Google Earth) 18 m. No secondary types.

Diagnosis. A species of Lerista with two or three toes, forelimb with a single digit or a stump, a free eyelid, frontoparietals not fused to interparietal, four or five supraciliaries all in contact, three supraoculars, and no more than five nuchals.

Distribution. Northern Kimberley, Western Australia, from Sir Graham Moore Island to the Carson Escarpment ( Fig. 1 ).

Description. Measurements. Sample size is 24 unless otherwise noted. SVL = 36–63 mm (average = 53 mm), HL = 8–12% SVL (average = 10%), HW = 63–74% HL (average = 69%), L1 = 1–4% SVL (average = 3%), L2 = 11–20% SVL (average = 15%), TL = 90–102% SVL (average = 94%, n = 4). Forelimb either a single digit with or without a tiny claw, or a stump. Hindlimb with either two or three clawed toes.

Scalation. 18 (n = 17) or 20 (n = 7) midbody scale rows, three supraoculars, usually five supraciliaries, sometimes four (n = 4), two loreals, single preocular, occasionally two (n = 1, holotype), single presubocular, 4–6 palpebrals (mode = 5), single postocular, single postsubocular, six supralabials (five in a single individual where 6th was fused to the temporal and seven in another where the 3rd was split on one side only), fourth supralabial entering eye, 3–5 scales between last infralabial and ear (mode = 4), five infralabials, two infralabials (sometimes only one, n = 2) contacting postmental, frontoparietals separate, prefrontal contacts two loreals, frontonasal, frontal, first supraocular and first supraciliary (sometimes fails to contact first supraocular, n = 6); first supraciliary contacts preocular, loreal, prefrontal, first supraocular and second supraciliary (sometimes contacts frontal, n = 7); temporal contacts fifth and sixth supralabials, postocular, pretemporal, parietal and second temporal (sometimes fails to contact postocular, n = 2); frontoparietals and interparietal free (not fused into a single shield), 2–5 nuchals (mode = 4), 74–88 paravertebrals (mode = 82), 8–13 subdigital lamellae under the longest toe (mode = 10), 6–9 supradigitals (mode = 7), 71–83 subcaudals (average = 78, n = 4).

Colour pattern. In alcohol, brown or grey-brown with longitudinal lines or lines of spots of dark brown along the dorsum, often also a dark brown reticulation. Belly immaculate cream to yellow, sometimes with dark stippling. Tail similar pattern to the body but often a yellowish wash with the pattern less distinct. Regrown tails tend to have heavier markings. In life, colour pattern very similar except that colours tend to be stronger and underlain by a pinkish hue.

Comparison with other species. Fourteen species of Lerista have a single digit, a stump or nubbin as a forelimb and two or three toes, namely L. baynesi Storr, 1971 , L. edwardsae Storr, 1982 , L. gascoynensis Storr, 1986 , L. gerrardii ( Gray, 1864) , L. kendricki Storr, 1991 , L. kennedyensis Kendrick, 1989 , L. lineopunctulata ( Duméril and Bibron, 1839) , L. macropisthopus galea Storr, 1991 , L. nichollsi ( Loveridge, 1933) , L. petersoni Storr, 1976 , L. picturata ( Fry, 1914) , L. punctatovittata ( Günther, 1867) , L. stictopleura Storr, 1985 and L. yuna Storr, 1991 . Of these, seven have a fixed, rather than free eyelid ( L. gascoynensis , L. kendricki , L. kennedyensis , L. nichollsi , L. petersoni , L. stictopleura and L. yuna ). Of those with a free eyelid, L. lineopunctulata has frontoparietals fused to the interparietal (free in L. kalumburu ), L. edwardsae has only 3 supraciliaries whereas L. gerrardii and L. m. galea have either only 3 supraciliaries or the supraciliaries non-continuous (1st supraciliary divided from the others by the 1st supraocular; vs. 4 supraciliaries all in contact in L. kalumburu ). Lerista punctatovittata has 7–9 nuchals (vs. 2–5 in L. kalumburu ) and L. baynesi and L. picturata have only 2 supraoculars (vs. 3).

Figures

FIGURE 1. Map showing collection localities for L. kalumburu. Type locality (Kalumburu) in red, collection locality for twotoed specimens (Theda Station) in yellow. Locality lacking tissue sample (Doongan Station) indicated with hollow symbol. (Google © 2010; Image NASA © 2012 Cnes / Spot Image Data S 10, NOAA, U. S. Navy, NGA, CEBCO).

FIGURE 3. Lerista kalumburu in life. Specimen from Theda Station. Photo courtesy of H. Cook.