Volume 15-20 (2026-31)
v15i1.397eISSN: 1800-427X (online)
DOI:10.47605/tapro.v15i1.397
Submitted date: 16 August 2025
Accepted date: 31 December 2025
Published date: 14 April 2026
Pp. 12–25, Pls. 4–7.
A NEW FOSSORIAL REED SNAKE (SQUAMATA: CALAMARIIDAE: Calamaria) FROM NORTHEAST INDIA, WITH A NOMENCLATURAL SYNOPSIS OF THE Calamaria pavimentata COMPLEX
Manmath Bharali, Chesime M. Sangma, A.A. Thasun Amarasinghe, Sanath C. Bohra, Pranjal Swargiary, Griksrang C. Marak, Arup K. Hazarika, Madhurima Das,
Bipin M. Asem, Jennifer Lyngdoh, Hmar T. Lalremsanga & Jayaditya Purkayastha
*Corresponding author. E-mail: mail.jayaditya@gmail.com
Abstract
The fossorial reed snakes of the genus Calamaria are morphologically conservative, geographically structured, and frequently misidentified across broad regions, especially where historical names have been applied without explicit synonymy audits. During surveys in the Garo Hills, Meghalaya, Northeast India, we collected a series of Calamaria specimens referable to the “Calamaria pavimentata” concept historically used for the region. We evaluate these specimens using a morphology-first framework complemented by mitochondrial cytochrome b phylogenetic placement. Maximum-likelihood inference recovers the Meghalaya lineage as the strongly supported sister to C. mizoramensis, with an uncorrected p-distance of 6.3%; these mitochondrial values are treated as descriptive support rather than as threshold-based evidence. Morphologically, the Meghalaya lineage is diagnosable by a unique combination of scalation, tail morphology, and coloration, including a short tail that is not gradually tapering, an obtusely pointed tail tip, and a broad median black stripe on the tail venter. To stabilize name usage around the new taxon, we summarize the historical names associated with the C. pavimentata complex, emphasizing type localities and type material where known.
Section Editor: Daniel Jablonski
LSID:urn:lsid:zoobank.org
DOI:10.47605/tapro.v15i1.397
Submitted date: 16 August 2025
Accepted date: 31 December 2025
Published date: 14 April 2026
Pp. 12–25, Pls. 4–7.
A NEW FOSSORIAL REED SNAKE (SQUAMATA: CALAMARIIDAE: Calamaria) FROM NORTHEAST INDIA, WITH A NOMENCLATURAL SYNOPSIS OF THE Calamaria pavimentata COMPLEX
Manmath Bharali, Chesime M. Sangma, A.A. Thasun Amarasinghe, Sanath C. Bohra, Pranjal Swargiary, Griksrang C. Marak, Arup K. Hazarika, Madhurima Das,
Bipin M. Asem, Jennifer Lyngdoh, Hmar T. Lalremsanga & Jayaditya Purkayastha
*Corresponding author. E-mail: mail.jayaditya@gmail.com
Abstract
The fossorial reed snakes of the genus Calamaria are morphologically conservative, geographically structured, and frequently misidentified across broad regions, especially where historical names have been applied without explicit synonymy audits. During surveys in the Garo Hills, Meghalaya, Northeast India, we collected a series of Calamaria specimens referable to the “Calamaria pavimentata” concept historically used for the region. We evaluate these specimens using a morphology-first framework complemented by mitochondrial cytochrome b phylogenetic placement. Maximum-likelihood inference recovers the Meghalaya lineage as the strongly supported sister to C. mizoramensis, with an uncorrected p-distance of 6.3%; these mitochondrial values are treated as descriptive support rather than as threshold-based evidence. Morphologically, the Meghalaya lineage is diagnosable by a unique combination of scalation, tail morphology, and coloration, including a short tail that is not gradually tapering, an obtusely pointed tail tip, and a broad median black stripe on the tail venter. To stabilize name usage around the new taxon, we summarize the historical names associated with the C. pavimentata complex, emphasizing type localities and type material where known.
Section Editor: Daniel Jablonski
LSID:urn:lsid:zoobank.org
v14i1.396eISSN: 1800-427X (online)
DOI:10.47605/tapro.v14i1.396
Submitted date: 16 August 2025
Accepted date: 9 December 2025
Published date: 16 February 2026
Pp. 1–11, Pls. 1–3.
A NEW ENDEMIC FOREST SKINK (SQUAMATA; SCINCIDAE; Sphenomorphus) FROM THE SANDSTONE ECOSYSTEM OF THE KHORAT PLATEAU, THAILAND
L. Lee Grismer, Parinya Pawangkhanant, Mali Naiduangchan, Jesse L. Grismer, Ian Dugdale, Andrew Pierce, Evan S.H. Quah, Chatmongkon Suwannapoom & Nikolay A. Poyarkov
*Corresponding author. E-mail: lgrismer@lasierra.edu
Abstract
A new Forest Skink, belonging to the Sphenomorphus stellatus complex, was discovered in the unique forested sandstone ecosystem of the Khorat Plateau in northeastern Thailand. This new skink was recovered as the sister species to the other Indochinese skinks, S. phuquocensis + S. annamiticus, based on a phylogeny using 1,184 base pairs of 12S and 16S. A multiple factor analysis (MFA) based on a concatenated dataset comprised of size-corrected morphometric, meristic, and color pattern characters revealed this species’ isolated position in morphospace with respect to all other species in the S. stellatus complex. This is the fourth endemic lizard species reported from the Khorat Plateau and adds to a growing list of endemic species across a broad range of taxa. As such, this region desperately needs legal protection and increased field-based systematic research to uncover more unrealized species on this plateau in need of description and protection.
Section Editor: Thasun Amarasinghe
LSID:urn:lsid:zoobank.org
DOI:10.47605/tapro.v14i1.396
Submitted date: 16 August 2025
Accepted date: 9 December 2025
Published date: 16 February 2026
Pp. 1–11, Pls. 1–3.
A NEW ENDEMIC FOREST SKINK (SQUAMATA; SCINCIDAE; Sphenomorphus) FROM THE SANDSTONE ECOSYSTEM OF THE KHORAT PLATEAU, THAILAND
L. Lee Grismer, Parinya Pawangkhanant, Mali Naiduangchan, Jesse L. Grismer, Ian Dugdale, Andrew Pierce, Evan S.H. Quah, Chatmongkon Suwannapoom & Nikolay A. Poyarkov
*Corresponding author. E-mail: lgrismer@lasierra.edu
Abstract
A new Forest Skink, belonging to the Sphenomorphus stellatus complex, was discovered in the unique forested sandstone ecosystem of the Khorat Plateau in northeastern Thailand. This new skink was recovered as the sister species to the other Indochinese skinks, S. phuquocensis + S. annamiticus, based on a phylogeny using 1,184 base pairs of 12S and 16S. A multiple factor analysis (MFA) based on a concatenated dataset comprised of size-corrected morphometric, meristic, and color pattern characters revealed this species’ isolated position in morphospace with respect to all other species in the S. stellatus complex. This is the fourth endemic lizard species reported from the Khorat Plateau and adds to a growing list of endemic species across a broad range of taxa. As such, this region desperately needs legal protection and increased field-based systematic research to uncover more unrealized species on this plateau in need of description and protection.
Section Editor: Thasun Amarasinghe
LSID:urn:lsid:zoobank.org
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