A New Insular Species of Skink of The Genus Sphenomorphus Strauch 1887 (Squamata: Scincidae) from Pulau Perhentian Besar, Terengganu, Peninsular Malaysia

A new species of small, insular, forest floor skink, Sphenomorphus perhentianensis sp. nov., is described from Pulau Perhentian Besar of the Perhentian Archipelago, Peninsular Malaysia. This species is differentiated from all other 36 Sundaland species of Sphenomorphus based on a unique collection of morphological and colour pattern characteristics. These unique characteristics include a snout-vent length of 30.0 mm, 29 midbody scale rows, smooth as opposed to striated dorsal scales, 65 paravertebrals, 61 ventrals, 4 supraoculars, parietals contacting the posterior-most supraocular, 1 medially projecting superciliary scale, 2 loreals, 6 supralabials and infralabials, 10 lamellae beneath the fourth toe, smooth subdigital lamellae, enlarged preanal scales, no body bands, a dark brown, diffuse, dorsolateral stripe extending to just past the axilla, a cream coloured dorsolateral stripe on the nape and anterior-most portion of the body, and no cream coloured postorbital stripe. The discovery of a second endemic reptile in the Perhentian Archipelago underscores the unrealized biodiversity of its herpetofauna. Additional works will describe two additional species from the Perhentian Archipelago.