Vol. 7, pp. 23-26

Asiatic Herpetological Research

1997

Rediscovery of Lipinia macrotympanum (Stoliczka, 1873) fromthe Nicobar Islands, India
INDRANEIL DAS
Centre for Herpetology, Madras Crocodile Bank, Post Ban No. 4, Mamallapuram-603 104, Tamilnadu, S. India
Abstract.- Stoliczka's (1873) Mocoa macrotympanum,

known from the holotype collected over 120 years ago
from the Andaman Islands, India, is redescrihed on the basis of two specimens from Little and Great Nicobar

Islands. India. The species is diagnosed by: small body size (SVL up to 38.1 mm); tympanum exposed; disk onlower eyelid translucent; prefrontals separate; the failure of the adpressed hind limbs to meet the fore limbs; 21-23 smooth midbody scale rows; 15-17 subdigital scansors under toe IV; three pairs of nuchals; four supraoculars;
seven supralabials (supralabialV in midorbit position); six infralabials; and lateral bands starting from thenostrils.

Key words.- Lipinia macrotympanum, Sauria. Scincidae. Great Nicobar. Little Nicobar, India.

Figure 1.

Lipinia macrotympanum (MCZ R-1 76760) from Pulo Ulan (07 03'N; 93 35'E), Little Nicobar, India,in life.

Introductionbone and a dorsal color pattern of striking light, andMocoa macrotympanum was described by Stoliczka

dark longitudinal stripes. Their distribution includes
the insular regions of south-east Asia, including the1873), based on a single example from "South Andaman. ...on a sandy beach in Macpherson's Straits" (II"(31'N; 92- 39'E), which lie between South Andamans

and Rutland Island, that was deposited in the collection of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, in Calcutta. The

holotype is now in the collection of the Zoological
Survey of India (ZSI 5571). No further examples ofthis distinctive species

have come to light. In Mittle-man's (1952) synopsis of scincids, the species wasassigned to the genus Scincella, although Greer(1974) subsequently placed Stoliczka's species in thegenus Lipinia. now known to include 20 nominal species (Austin, 1995; Greer. 1974; Greer and Mys,1987) that are diagnosable by their small (SVL56mm) size, generally slender body, lack of a postorbital

Sundas east to the Philippines, New Guinea, with onespecies (L. noctua) reaching Polynesia, further east
45 in Greer, 1974. and Fig. 8 in Zweifel.

(see Fig.

1979) that is suspected to be spread through humanagencies (Greer. 1989). Only one species (L. vittigera) has been recorded from the Asian mainland(Greer, 1974).

The collection of an example (Fig. 1) of Lipinia
macrotympanum during field work conducted in theNicobars

in1994 and an examination of anotherNicobarese specimen (from Great Nicobar), referred

Sphenomorphus quadrivittatum, although withsome hesitation, by Biswas and Sanyal (1977). pro-tovide an opportunity to both enlarge the description ofVol. 7, p. 24

Asiatic Herpetological Researchon the two Nicobarese specimens
and announce its rediscovery after over 120 years.

1997

the species basedinMaterial and Methods

exposed; disk on lower eyelid translucent; prefrontals
separate; failure of the adpressed hind limbs to meet

The material from Little Nicobar was fixed in 10%
formalin for two weeks, soaked in distilled water toremove the formalin for a day and finally preserved in
70% ethanol. The following measurements were taken
13-14 months (for the material from Little Nicobar)
and 29 years (the material from Great Nicobars) aftercollection, with dial vernier caliper (to the nearest 0.1mm): snout-vent length (SVL; from the tip of thesnout to the vent), tail length (TL; from the vent to theof the unregenerated tail), tail width (TW; measured at the base of the tail); head length (HL; the dis-possessing the following suite of characteristics:
small body size (SVL up to 38.1 mm); tympanum

the fore limbs; 21-23 smooth midbody scale rows; 15-17 subdigital scansors under toe IV; three pairs offour
sevensupraoculars;supralabials

nuchals:

Redescription.- In general form, a supple skink, thebody elongated with fairly well-developed limbs.

Head relatively small (HL/SVL ratios 0.15 and 0.16),
snoutacute,

roundedtip

tance between the angle of the jaws and the snout-tip),

V in midorbit position); six infralabials;(supralabialand lateral bands starting from the nostrils.

tip;thesideshead

relatively

converging to a distinctly

more slender thanand body slightly depressed dorso-ventrally; tail longhead width (HW: measured at the angle of the jaws),(TL/SVL ratios 1.20 and 1.41

head depth (HD; the maximum height of the head,from the forehead to the throat), tympanum diametertion and tapering to a sharp point.

(TYD; the greatest [vertical] diameter of the tympanum), body width (BW; the greatest width of thehigh,axilla to groin length (A-G; the distance
between the posterior edge of the fore limb and thebody),

thebody, with a distinct neck, and longer than wide; head),rounded in cross sec-

Rostral enlarged and visible dorsally. broader thanforming a straight suturewithfrontonasal;

supranasals absent; postnasals contact supralabial II;
two loreals contact supralabials II and III; two preoculars,smaller (preocular I) in contact with supralabial

anterior edge of the hind limb), eye diameter (ED; theIV; supralabials seven; infralabials eight; presubocu-greatest diameter of the orbit), eye to nostril distancelar(E-N; the distance between the anterior-most point ofsupralabial IV in midorbital position; last supralabials

the eyes and the nostrils), eye to snout distance (E-S;

horizontallythe distance

between the anterior-most point of theeyes and the tip of the snout), eye to ear distance (E-E;
the distance from the anterior edge of the ear opening
to the posterior corner of the eyes), greatest ear length(EL; the greatest diameter of the ear opening), inter-between the uppernarial distance (IN; the distanceeyelids), fore limb length (FOL; the length of the out-

stretched fore limb, from axilla to the tip of its longest

incontact

withsplit:

bothsupralabials

frontonasal

broader

IV and V;
thanlong,broadly in contact with the rostral anteriorly and withthe prefrontals posteriorly; prefrontals not in contact

with eachother; supraoculars four; frontal long,spear-shaped, in contact with supraoculars I and II:
fused fronto-parietals; interparietal triangular, withapex partially dividing parietals. and covering a relatively large and distinct parietal eye; supracilliaries
10;

two pre-temporals; two primary temporals; twooutstretched hind limbs, from vent to the tip of its

secondary temporals; three pairs of smooth nuchals;
mental wider than long, in contact with infralabials I

longest toe).

and II: postmental longer than wide, in contact withfinger),and hind limb length (HIL; the length of theInstitutional

abbreviations follow Leviton et(1985).

Color nomenclature

Smith1974; 1981

()

al.

is
that suggested byand taken from Kodak Gold film.

infralabials

IIand III; three pairs of chin shields fol-

low the postmental on each side, the first pair in contact with each other, the second pair divided medially(1981).

by the a single row of ventral scale, and the third pair
separated by three rows of ventral scales; tympanum

Lipinia macrotympanum (Stoliczka, 1873)

exposed, longer vertically, its greatest length morethan half eye diameter (ED/EL ratios 1.30 and 1.64),

Nomenclature of dorsal striping is after Storr et al.

Material examined:

MCZ R- 176760. Pulo Ulan (07-shallow, lacking lobules.

03 N; 93 35'E), Little Nicobar, India. Coll. Indraneil

Body slender (BW/SVL ratios 0.12 and 0.13); fore

Das and Satish Bhaskar. 31 March. 1994: ZSI 22508,

and hind limbs well developed (FOL/SVL and HIL/-Campbell Bay (06 50'N; 93 50 E). Great Nicobar,India. Coll. A. Daniel, Great Nicobar Expedition.
1966.

Diagnosis.- A member of the genus Lipinia (fideGreer, 1974), differentiable from congeneric species

SVL ratios 0.22 and 0.23, and 0.32 and 0.33, respectively), adpressed hind limbs fail to touch fore limbs.

Dorsally, the scales on body, limbs and tail aresmooth; ventrally, scales imbricate with three to fourvery fine striations; midbody scale rows 21 and 23;

Asiatic Herpetological Research

1997

Table 1.

Meristic data (in mm) on the two Nicobarese specimens ofLipinia macrotympanum

Vol. 7, p. 25Asiatic Herpetological ResearchVol. 7, p. 26

1997

islands of Fiji (Zug, 1991) and Hawaii (Oliver andGreer. A. E. 1989. The biology and evolution of Aus-The holotype ofLipinia macrotympanum contained two eggs (Smith.

Chipping Norton, xvi + 264 pp.

1935).

Greer. A.

Variation.- The differences between the holotype andLipinia

Shaw.

McMorris,1953;1970).

hitherto only known specimen, as given by Stoliczka(1873

and the fresh material from the Nicobars are)understandable, given the distance between the twoisland groups. The holotype showed 15 lamellae

under the fourth toe (as opposed to 16 and 17) and 22

midbody scale rows (vs 21 and 22 in the Nicobaresematerial). In addition, the color notes taken by Stolic-zka (1873) indicate that the ventral surface of hisspecimen (a gravid female) was livid carneous tinged
with orange, while the Nicobarese specimens have anunpatterned cream belly.

andaFulbrightFellowship.

I

thank

Romulus Whitaker for support and Satish Bhaskar forassistance during Held work in the Nicobars. For permission andfacilities toI

Resurrection of1987.

(Hediger. 1934)(Reptilia: Lacertilia:Scincidae). another skink to have lost the left oviduct.

Amphibia-Reptilia 8:417-418.
Leviton, A. E.. R. H. Gibbs.

Jr..

Heal and C. E.

E.

Dawson. 1985. Standards in herpetology and ichthyology: Part I. Standard symbolic codes for institutional
resource collections in herpetology andichthyology. Copeia 1985: 802-832.

Loveridge, A. 1948. New Guinea reptiles and amphibians in the Museum of Comparative Zoology andUnitedStatesNationalMuseum.

Bulletinof the101:305-383 + 2

McMorris. J. R. 1970. Herpetological distribution andand western North Amer-life history notes for Hawaii

ica. Great Basin Naturalist 30:

thank E. N. Arnold and ColinJ.

draft of the manuscript.

106-107.

Mittleman. M. B. 1952. A generic synopsis of the lizards of the subfamily Lygosominae. Smithsonian Mis-

cellaneous Collections 1 17 (17): 1-35.

examine comparative mate-

McCarthy(BMNH). John Cadle and Jose Rosado (MCZ). andShyamal Kumar Chanda and B. Dattagupta (ZSI).
Kraig Adler and Allen Greer offered comments on arial,and B. Mys.

E.

rouxipi.

Supported by the Royal Netherlands Embassy, Centrefor Herpetology, Madras Crocodile Bank Trust. BritCouncil

Surrey Beatty and Sons Pty Limited.

Museum of Comparative Zoology

Acknowledgments

ishtralian lizards.

Oliver.

A. and C. E. Shaw. 1953. The amphibiansJ.

and reptiles of the Hawaiian

islands.

Zoologica 38:

65-95.

Smith. F. B. 1974. Naturalist's color guide. Parts I andThe American Museum of Natural History. New

II.

York.

Literature Cited
Austin. C. C.

Smith.

1995. Molecular and morphologicalB.

F.

1981. Naturalist's color guide. PartIII.

The American Museum of Natural History. New York.

evolution in South Pacific scincid lizards: morpholog-Smith. M. A. 1930. The reptiles and Amphibia of theconservatism and phylogenetic relationships ofPapuan Lipinia (Scincidae). Herpetologica 51:291-xviii+ 1-149.

300.

Smith. M. A. 1935. The fauna of British India, includ-ical

Biswas, S. and D. P. Sanyal. 1977. Notes on the Reptilia

collection from the Great Nicobar Island during

the Great Nicobar Expedition in 1966. Records of theMalay Peninsula. Bulletin of the Raffles Museum (3):ing Ceylon andBurma. Reptilia and Amphibia. Vol.

II- Sauria. Taylor and Francis. London, xiii+ 440 pp +lpl.

F 1873. Notes on some Andamanese andZoological Survey of India 72:107-124.

Stoliczka,

Brown. W. C. and A. C. Alcala. 1980. Philippine liz-Nicobarese reptiles, with the descriptions of three newards of the family Scincidae.

species of lizards. Journal ofBengal 42(2): 162- 169.

Silliman University,

Dumaguete City, xi + 264 pp.
Brown, W. C. and A. Fehlmann. 1958. A new genus
and species of aboreal scincid lizards from the Palau
Occasional Papers of the Natural History
Museum, Stanford University (6): 1-7.
Islands.

Greer. A. E.

1974.

The generic relationships of thescincid lizard genus Leiolopisma and its relatives.
Australian Journal of Zoology (Supplement Series)

31:1-67.

Storr, G.

the Asiatic Society ofM.. L. A. Smith and R. E. Johnstone. 1981.

Lizards of Western Australia. I. Skinks. Western Australian Museum. Perth, xii + 200 pp.

Zug, G. R. 1991. The lizards of Fiji: Natural historyand systematics. Bishop Museum Bulletin in Zoology(2):i-xii+ 1-136.

Zweifel. R. G. 1979. Variation in the scincid lizard
Lipinia noctua and notes on other Lipinia from theNew Guinea region. American Museum Novitates(2676): 1-12.