Herpetology Notes, volume 8: 321-322 (2015) (published online on 19 May 2015)

First record of Lygosoma angeli (Smith, 1937) (: Scincidae) from eastern Cambodia

Thy Neang1,*, Daniel Morawska2 and Menghor Nut3

The Lygosoma Hardwicke & Gray, 1827 70% ethanol for storage in the zoological collection contains 31 recognised (Uetz & Hallermann, at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. 2014), two of which were described in the last ten years Measurement and scale counts of morphological (Ziegler et al., 2007; Geissler et al., 2012). Of these, characters followed (Cota et al., 2011; Geissler et al., 17 species occur in Southeast Asia (Das, 2010; Uetz & 2011). Hallermann, 2014), eight of which have been reported The male (CBC01657) matches diagnostic from Indochina (Geissler et al., 2011). In comparison characters of L. angeli (Smith, 1937) from Vietnam, with other Southeast Asian species of Lygosoma, the Laos (Bourret, 2009; Geissler et al., 2011) and Thailand four species: L. angeli, L. haroldyoungi, L. isodactylum (Cota et al., 2011), by having snout to vent length (SVL) and L. quadrupes have a -like morphology, 114.8 mm; regenerated tail length 66.4 mm; trunk with much reduced limbs and an elongated body and length 78.4 mm, 3.6 times longer than distance from tip tail, adaptations to a secretive semi-fossorial lifestyle of snout to anterior axilla of forelimb; forelimb (FIL; (Bourret, 2009; Das, 2010; Geissler et al., 2011). Whilst their burrowing behavior allows them to escape predators, it causes them to be overlooked in standard herpetofaunal surveys (Long et al., 2000; Stuart et al., 2006). Many species of Lygosoma are known from only a single or few specimens, with little knowledge of morphological variation, distribution and ecology. Seima Biodiversity Conservation Area (SBCA) located at Keo Seima and O’Rang Districts, Mondulkiri Province, eastern Cambodia (Fig.1) has recently been proven to be rich in herpetofaunal species (Stuart et al., 2006), with many additional species expected to be discovered. Daniel Morawska collected a single unknown snake-like from the SBCA substation (N12.1384, E106.9169, 138 m above sea level) on 2 March 2014. The specimen was initially preserved in 10% formalin for 24 hours, then transferred to

1 Fauna & Flora International, Cambodia Program, # 19, St. 360, Sangkat BKKI, 2,3 Wildlife Conservation Society, # 21, St. 21, Tonle Bassac, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 3 Forestry Administration, #40 Preah Norodom Blvd. Phsar Kandal 2, Khan Daun Penh, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Figure 1. Map showing locality of Lygosoma angeli * Corresponding author: email: [email protected] (CBC01657) in SCBA 322 Thy Neang et al.

prediction, and contributes to the checklist of species for the country. Based on the known distribution (see map in Cota et al., 2011), we predict the species to occur in the Cardamom Mountains of southwestern Cambodia.

Acknowledgements. The authors are indebted to the Forestry Administration and Wildlife Conservation Society for support of the second and third author. Thanks to Sim Sovannarun for preparing the map. We thank Timo Hartmann for comments that improved the manuscript and for kindly providing the evaluation note, Nick Souter for English edition.

Figure 2. Photo of Lygosoma angeli (CBC01657) in life. References Photo: Thy Neang Bourret, R. (2009): Les Lézards de Ľ Indochine. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, 624 pp. Cota, M., Geissler, P., Chan-ard, T., Makchai, S. (2011): First record of Lygosoma angeli (Smith, 1937) (Reptilia: Squamata: from axilla to palm) very short (4.7 mm), SVL/FIL 24; Scincidae) in Thailand with notes on other specimens from Laos. The Thailand Natural History Museum Journal 5(2): 125-132. hind limb (HIL; from groin to palm) 7.7 mm, SVL/ Das, I. (2010): A Field Guide to the of South-east Asia. HIL15; subdigital lamellae under fourth toe 6; lower New Holland Publishers (UK) Ltd, London-Cape Town- eyelid scaly; rostral broader than high; supranasals in Sydney-Auckland, 376 pp contact; frontal about equal in length to frontoparietal; Geissler, P., Nguyen, Q.T., Phung, M.T., Van Devender, R.W., frontoparietal single; nuchals absent; external ear Hartmann, T., Farkas, B., Ziegler, T., Böhme, W. (2011): A opening with a small lobe on anterior edge; supralabials review of Indochinese of the genus Lygosoma Hardwicke 7; dorsal scale smooth; scale rows around midbody 29; & Gray, 1827 (Squamata: Scincidae), with natural history notes and an identification key. Biologia 66: 1159-1176. paravertebral scales (from posterior margin of parietals Geissler, P., Hartmann, T., Neang, T. (2012): A new species of to a point above the vent) 106; ventral scales (from the the genus Lygosoma Hardwicke & Gray, 1827 (Squamata: first ventral scale, immediately posterior to the third Scincidae) from northeastern Cambodia, with an updated chin shields to vent) 114; outer precloacals overlapping identification key to the genus Lygosoma in mainland Southeast the inner precloacals. Asia. Zootaxa 3190: 56-68. In life (Fig. 2) the specimen was light brown on Long, B., Swan, S.R. & Kry, M. (2000): Wildlife survey of northeast dorsum and flanks; light marbled grey on tail; white on Mondulkiri. FFI Indochina programme, Hanoi. Nguyen V.S., Ho T.C., Nguyen T.Q. (2009): Herpetofauna of belly, subcaudally and under limbs; scales with basal Vietnam. Edition Chimaira, Frankfurt am Main, 768 pp. dark brown blotches dorsally and laterally, becoming Stuart, B.L., Sok, K., Neang, T. (2006): A collection of amphibians spots on chin, belly and subcaudals on a white and reptiles from hilly eastern Cambodia. The Raffles Bulletin background; dorsum of head and lower jaw with dark of Zoology 54 (1): 129-155. brown blotches; supralabials and infralabials with dark Uetz, P., Hallermann, J. (2014): The Reptile Database. Available at oblique streaks. CBC01657 was found on the ground at http://www.reptiled-atabase.org. Accessed on 10 April 2014. 18:47 hrs, foraging for insects that were attracted Ziegler, T., Schmitz, A., Heidrich, A., Vu, N.T., Nguyen, Q.T. (2007): A new species of Lygosoma (Squamata: Sauria: by artificial light in a room at the SBCA substation. Scincidae) from the Central Truong Son, Vietnam, with notes on The ambient temperature at the time was 31ºC. The its molecular phylogenetic position. Revue Suisse de Zoologie surrounding habitat at the substation is a disturbed 114 (2): 397-415. evergreen forest mixed with bamboo. This species has been previously reported from Vietnam, Laos and Thailand (Bourret, 2009; Nguyen et al., 2009; Geissler et al., 2011; Cota et al., 2011), and based on this distribution, Geissler et al. (2011) and Cota et al. (2011) suggested that L. angeli should also be found in Cambodia. Our finding represents the first Accepted by Mirco Solé record of this species for Cambodia, confirming this