Review of the leaf-litter skinks (Scincidae: Panaspis) from the Gulf of Guinea Oceanic Islands, with the description of a new species

This dataset contains the digitized treatments in Plazi based on the original journal article Soares, Leonor B., P, Luis M., Ceríaco, Marques, Mariana P., Bastos-, Cristiane, Silveira, Scheinberg, Lauren A., James, D., Harris, and, António Brehm, Jesus, José (2018): Review of the leaf-litter skinks (Scincidae: Panaspis) from the Gulf of Guinea Oceanic Islands, with the description of a new species. African Journal of Herpetology 67 (2): 132-159, DOI: 10.1080/21564574.2017.1413015, URL: doi.org/10.1080/21564574.2017.1413015 ABSTRACT Leaf-litter skinks of the genus Panaspis are currently represented in the oceanic islands of the Gulf of Guinea by two species, Panaspis africana and P. annobonensis.

Here we describe a third species, Panaspis thomensis sp. nov., endemic to São Tomé Island. Data from previous studies and a new phylogenetic analysis using the mitochondrial 16S gene shows that the new species is genetically divergent and reciprocally monophyletic with respect to P. africana. Morphological data (scalation and morphometry) identify consistent, yet subtle, phenotypic differences between the two island populations.