The genus Parvoscincus was only described in 1997 based on a newly discovered population of closed-canopy ground skink (P. sisoni) in the central Philippine islands (Ferner et al., 1997). In the same publication, the Palawan endemic species Lygosoma (Sphenomorphus) palawanensis Brown and Alcala, 1961, was recognized as a member of the genus Parvoscincus (Ferner et al., 1997). These unique species share similarities with the Sphenomorphus Group of lygosomine skinks (Greer, 1979; Ferner et al., 1997); however, they can be distinguished from members of the genus Sphenomorphus, and all other genera of lygosomine skinks by a unique combination of external morphological and osteological characters (for details, see Ferner et al., 1997). As both species are known from small series of individuals, little is known of their ecology and life history.
There are only two recognized species of lizards in the genus Parvoscincus. Parvoscincus sisoni can be distinguished from P. palawanensis by the following combination of characters: (1) prefrontals present (vs. absent); (2) loreals two (vs. one); (3) infralabials six (vs. five); and (4) four phalanges in the fifth toe of the foot (vs. three) (Ferner et al., 1997).
This species is recognized to occur only on Panay Island in the Philippines.
The genus, Parvoscincus, was derived from the Latin "parvus" for dwarf, and "scincus" for lizard, in reference to the small sizes of species in the genus (Ferner et al., 1997).
Parvoscincus sisoni was named in honor of Mr. Rogelio Sison, a former curator of the herpetology collections at the Philippine National Museum (Ferner et al., 1997).
Visayan (Central) Pleistocene Aggregate Island Complex (PAIC; Brown and Diesmos, 2002).
Both Parvoscincus palawanensis and P. sisoni have been observed in leaf litter beneath the leaves and forest floor detritus in closed-canopy forest, from low to mid-elevation (100-1125 m) (Ferner et al., 1997).
This species closely resembles Parvoscincus palawanensis.
Females of both species of Parvocincus have been reported to have brood sizes of one (Ferner et al., 1997).
SVL 20.0-33.6 mm (Ferner et al., 1997)
1020 m elevation, MT. Madja-as, Barangay Alojipan, Municipality of Culasi, Antique Province, Panay Island, Philippines; type in the Philippine National Museum; PNM 2308 (Field No. PNM/CMNH-H 424)
