PROCEEDINGS OF THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 108(l):18-28. 1995. A new species of lygosomine lizard (Reptilia: Lacertilia: Scincidae; Sphenomorphus) from Mt. Isarog, Luzon Island, Philippines Rafe M. Brown, John W. Femer, and Luis A. Ruedas (RMB) Department of Zoology, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio 45056, U.S.A.; (JWF) Department of Biology, Thomas More College, Crestview Hills, Kentucky 41017, U.S.A.; (LAR, RMB, JWF) Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, 1720 Gilbert Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202-1401, U.S.A.; (LAR) Department of Biology, Cayey University College, Cayey, Puerto Rico 00736 Abstract.— Sphenomorphus knollmanae, a new species, is described on the basis of recently collected material from Mt. Isarog, Bicol Peninsula, south-eastern Luzon, Philippines. The small series (n = 5) differs from its congeners by the combination of its fused frontoparietals, relatively low number of par-avertebrals (73-83) and midbody scales (34-39), the presence of 17-20 sub-digital fourth toe lamellae, distinctive patterns of coloration, and a host of measurements related to its small body size (SVL = 47.5-51.0 mm). To better distinguish between the new species and two closely related congeners, uni-variate and multivariate analyses were performed on a suite of morphological characters. The three species were found to be well differentiated morpholog-ically. Worldwide, the genus Sphenomorphus contains over 120 species and is a "taxo-nomically residual" plesiomorphic taxon that "remains a convenient repository for . . . species, pending further phylogenetic analysis" (Myers & Donnelly 1991:2). Brown & Alcala (1961b) reported that Ori-ental and Australian zoogeographic regions contain over 60 scincid species in Spheno-morphus. In their key to Philippine Scin-cidae, Brown & Alcala (1 980) recognized 22 species of Sphenomorphus, subdividing these into five groups based on external morphology. The Group I species of Phil-ippine Sphenomorphus are S. beyeri (Taylor 1922) and S. diwata (Brown & Rabor 1967, see Brown & Alcala 1980, for review). Until recently, S. beyeri was known only from the holotype, collected by E. H. Taylor on Mt. Banahao, Laguna province, southern Luzon Island (Taylor 1922). During a recent bio-diversity inventory of the Philippines con-ducted by the National Museum of the Phil-ippines (PNM) and the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History (CMNH), we rediscov-ered and redescribed Sphenomorphus beyeri from specimens taken on Mt. High Peak, Zambales Mountains, west central Luzon Island (Brown et al. 1995). Sphenomorphus diwata also is currently known only from a small number of specimens collected in the Diwata Mountains, Surigao del Sur Prov-ince, northern Mindanao Island (Brown & Rabor 1967, Brown & Alcala 1980). While examining material in the United States National Museum of Natural History (USNM), R. I. Crombie brought to our at-tention a small series of Sphenomorphus skinks that appeared very similar to our specimens of S. beyeri from the Zambales. At the time, we were not confident in the assignment of these specimens to our con-cept of S. beyeri (from the type locality or from Mt. High Peak) as several inconsis-
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