Lerista karichigara sp. nov. (Scincidae; Sphenomorphini), a new fossorial skink from Australia's underexplored Gulf Plains Bioregion

We describe a new species of fossorial skink, Lerista karichigara sp. nov., from the Gulf Plains Bioregion of northern Queensland, Australia. The new species lacks forelimbs, has hindlimbs with two toes, and is characterised by a colour-pattern of fine, dark longitudinal lines. Although field guides and keys available at the time of publication would identify this species as L. wilkinsi, it differs from that allopatric species in several respects.

Notably, L. karichigara sp. nov. has only two supraciliaries that do not contact each other (versus four, with the first three in a continuous row), and a snout shape that is sharper in profile. Mitochondrial DNA sequence data indicate L. karichigara sp. nov. is deeply divergent from other known Lerista species and is possibly sister to a clade of nine species from north-eastern Australia, referred to here as the L. wilkinsi clade.

Lerista karichigara sp. nov. appears to be the first vertebrate recognised as endemic to the Gulf Plains Bioregion, an expansive and poorly surveyed region of tropical northern Australia. We also report new geographic records for L. vanderduysi and L. emmotti, which extend their known distributions.