PROCEEDINGS OF THE CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES FOURTH SERIES Vol. XXXIV, No. 15, pp. 525-548; 3 figs.; 4 tables May 9, 1967 REVIEW OF THE GENUS BRACHYMELES (SCINCIDAE), WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW SPECIES AND SUBSPECIES By Walter C. Brown^ and Discoro S. Rabor-Introduction The genus Brachymeles occurs throughout the Philippine archipelago with the probable exception of the Palawan group in the west. The only record known to us for Palawan Island, noted by Brown (1956), is a single example of Brachymeles schadenbergi. This specimen from the E. H. Taylor collections at the California Academy of Science, San Francisco, California, (CAS 15571) has a registry entry indicating that it was collected on Palawan Island. How-ever, Taylor does not include Palawan in the range of this species, or the genus, in his volume on the lizards of the Philippine Islands (1922), or in his later paper on additions to the herpetofauna of Palawan (1925). Also no specimens were obtained during our intensive exploration of central Palawan in 1961. It therefore seems probable that an error exists in the locality data for this CAS specimen. The genus is otherwise represented by populations of three or four different species on most of the larger islands or island groups. Populations of those species which are least highly evolved toward the burrowing habit, retaining five digits on each limb, exhibiting only moderate shortening of the limbs, little elongation of the body, and little fusion or loss of head shields, have usually been referred to B. gracilis and B. schadenbergi. These species have been assumed to be widely distributed throughout the archipelago. Brown (1956), in a revision of the genus, recognized two geo-graphic subspecies of B. schadenbergi and three of B. gracilis. The more highly evolved species, those exhibiting great reduction of limbs and a loss of some digits, have limited distribution, usually only one or two or a closely associated group of islands. Distribution patterns are shown in figures 1-3. 1 Division of Systematic Biology, Stanford University, and Menlo College, Menlo Park, California. -Silliman University, Philippine Islands. [525] I Marine Biologxa! Laboratory LIBRARY
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