Morphological and genetic data challenge species and subspecies in the Lerista microtis group (Squamata: Scincidae) Author Farquhar, Jules E. 0000-0002-1894-7580 School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia. jules.farquhar@monash.edu Author Prates, Ivan 0000-0001-6314-8852 Museum of Zoology & Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI USA. ivanprates@gmail.com Author Doughty, Paul Collections & Research, Western Australian Museum, Welshpool, WA 6106, Australia. Author Rabosky, Daniel L. 0000-0002-7499-8251 Museum of Zoology & Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MI USA. drabosky@umich.edu Author Chapple, David G. 0000-0002-7720-6280 School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia. david.chapple@monash.edu text Zootaxa 2024 2024-04-15 5437 3 336 362 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5437.3.2 journal article 294512 10.11646/zootaxa.5437.3.2 f45fcbc4-cdea-47af-b120-d76cceab530d 1175-5326 10984941 49565730-9EA2-4231-B974-89A0321D6200

TABLE 1. Variables used in statistical analysis. Justification is provided for why each variable was included in our study. For variables that were key diagnostic characters used by Storr (1991a), we state the degree of evidential support (consistent or weak) for the reliability of such diagnostics, as revealed by our study.

Variable	Unit	Justification for use in present study (e.g., presumed differences)	Evidence
SVL	mm	*L. m. schwaneri is larger than L. m. microtis and L. m. intermedia	Consistent
HL	mm	Typically used in lizard taxonomy	-
HW	mm	Typically used in lizard taxonomy	-
AGD	mm	Typically used in lizard taxonomy	-
Forelimb	mm	*L. m. microtis has short limbs, while L. m. schwaneri has long limbs.	Consistent
Hindlimb	mm	As for Forelimb justification	Consistent
MSR	Counts	*L. m. schwaneri and L. arenicola typically have two more MSR than L. m. microtis and L. m. intermedia	Consistent
SubDig	Counts	Typically used in lizard taxonomy	-
Nuchals	Counts	Typically used in lizard taxonomy	-
	0: Absent 1: Faint traces of broken stripes	*L. m. microtis have few dorsal markings, whereas L. m. intermedia tend to have indistinct dorsal stripes	Weak
DP
	2: Indistinct continuous stripes 3: Bold continuous stripes	*L. m. schwaneri has more complex dorsal pattern than that of L. m. microtis	Weak
ULSB	1: Indistinct edges	*Indistinct in L. arenicola, bold in L. microtis	Consistent
	2: Bold edges
	1: Narrow	*Narrow in L. arenicola, wide in L. microtis	Consistent
ULSW
	2: Wide	*Narrower in L. m. intermedia than that of L. m. microtis	Weak
	1: Narrower than upper lateral	Considered relevant given our prior observation that L.
MLSW	2: Wider than upper lateral	arenicola tend to have wider mid-lateral stripes than that of L. microtis	-
	0: Wide separation
1: Narrowly separated
NSS	2: Just touching	Typically used in lizard taxonomy	-
3: Short contact
4: Broad contact