. Breviora. 8 BREVIORA No. 406 ^::z^. ^> Figure 4. Map of eastern New Guinea showing the type localities of Sl)ln')Wiii()ij)hus aiiuliis (Masba Creek = dosed star) and of S. iiiicro- t\)iil>auus (Garaina = open star) . Tiie two species are known only from their type localities. Relationships between S. microtympanus and S. anotus. These two species are so similar in all aspects of their external mor- phology, sa\e for the nature of the external ear, that they are almost certainly each other's closest known lixing relati\es. Indeed, it looks as if S. anotus could have e\ol\ed from
. Breviora. 8 BREVIORA No. 406 ^::z^. ^> Figure 4. Map of eastern New Guinea showing the type localities of Sl)ln')Wiii()ij)hus aiiuliis (Masba Creek = dosed star) and of S. iiiicro- t\)iil>auus (Garaina = open star) . Tiie two species are known only from their type localities. Relationships between S. microtympanus and S. anotus. These two species are so similar in all aspects of their external mor- phology, sa\e for the nature of the external ear, that they are almost certainly each other's closest known lixing relati\es. Indeed, it looks as if S. anotus could have e\ol\ed from a microtxmpanusAxkt ancestor simply by ha\ing the scales on the sides of the auricular depression extend down and oxer the \ery small tympanum at the bottom of the depression. The relationship between these two taxa appears to be so close that I onginally thought it might be possible to describe them as the same species. To do so would ha\c required only that one bclicxe that the \ariation shown in the external ears of the specimens exists within a single species. But this kind of variation is unknown in better studied skink species [, the skinks of the earless genus Heyniergis or the many species of Lerista, which ha\e minute ear openings), and to conclude. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Harvard University. Museum of Comparative Zoology. Cambridge, Mass. , Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
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