Philippine lizards of the family Gekkonidae comprise 49 species (Taylor, 1915, 1922; Brown and Alcala, 1978) in 10 genera: Gehyra (1), Gekko (13), Hemidactylus (5), Hemiphyllodactylus (2), Lepidodactylus (6), Luperosaurus (8), Ptychozoon (1), Pseudogekko (4), and Cyrtodactylus (9), (Brown et al., 2007, 2010a, 2011; Welton et al., 2009, 2010a, 2010b; Zug, 2011). An amazing percentage of these species are endemic to the Philippines archipelago (roughly 85%; Brown et al., 2011). Several of the recently described gekkonids in the Philippines were discovered only recently as part of ongoing surveys around the archipelago. Recent phylogenetic studies focused on Philippine gekkonids (Siler et al., 2010; Welton et al., 2010a,b) have resulted in the observation of high levels of genetic diversity among populations of widespread species, an indication that the country's gecko diversity may still be greatly underestimated.
The genus Dibamus represents a unique radiation of lizards in that all species in the genus are entirely limbless. Of the 22 species of Dibamus currently recognized, only two species are known from the Philippines (Dibamus leucurus and Dibamus novaeguineae). Both species are rarely observed, fossorial lizards, recognized to occur in the southern portions of the Philippines (mostly in the Mindanao faunal region). Unfortunately, little is known about the ecology and natural history of these unique species in the Philippines.
Dibamus novaeguineae can be distinguished from congeners by the following combination of characters: (1) large body size (maximum recorded SVL 158.0 mm); (2) number of postoculars 2 (most specimens) or 3 (only two documented specimens); (3) number of scales on edge of infralabial 3 or 4 (rarely 5); (4) number of scales posterior to interparietal 3; (5) midbody scale rows 22-26; (6) number of subcaudal scales 42-45 (males), 37-42 (females); (7) relative size of frontal 1.0-3.0; (8) relative size of interparietal 0.7-2.4; (9) tail length 10-19% SVL; (10) banding absent; (11) labial suture present; (12) rostral suture absent; and (13) enlarged medial sublabials absent. Characters and character states from Heang et al. (2011). For more detailed comparisons between all Dibamus species, see Heang et al., 2011: Table 2.
Mindanao Pleistocene Aggregate Island Complex (PAIC; Brown and Diesmos, 2002).
Maximum recorded SVL 158.0 mm (Heang et al., 2011)
New Guinea; Lectotype designated by Greer, 1985 (MNHP 7156A) from New Guinea; lectotype stored in the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
Dibamus novaeguineae, is a legless lizard found in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.[2]
Dibamus novaeguineae, is a legless lizard found in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
