Shy highlander: a new species of the genus Scincella Mittleman, 1950 (Squamata, Scincidae) from montane forests of Yunnan Province, China Author Xu, Yuhao 0000-0001-6094-6680 State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, Qinghai, China Author Nguyen, Tan Van 0000-0001-5413-968X The School of Medicine & Pharmacy, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Vietnam & Center for Entomology & Parasitology Research, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Vietnam Author Deng, Jundong State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, Qinghai, China Author Zhang, Tierui https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1869-9313 Anhui Province Key Laboratory of the Conservation and Exploitation of Biological Resource, College of Life Sciences, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241000, Anhui, China Author Sun, Fanyue https://orcid.org/0009-0004-7542-6046 State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, Qinghai, China Author Liu, Junchang Fuxing Community, Zhaotong 657799, Yunnan, China Author Poyarkov, Nikolay A. 0000-0002-7576-2283 Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskiye Gory, GSP – 1, Moscow 119991, Russia Author Peng, Lifang 0000-0001-9325-7048 State Key Laboratory of Plateau Ecology and Agriculture, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, Qinghai, China text Herpetozoa 2026 2026-04-17 39 127 143 journal article 314959 10.3897/herpetozoa.39.e188979 874d83c1-43b7-4169-892b-af97803f10fb A87D69F0-954E-4E07-AAD0-B4A0D82F2089

Table 1. Main morphological characteristics of the type series of Scincella verecunda sp. nov. All measurements are in mm. The abbreviations of morphological characters are defined in the Materials and Methods section. Notes: ♀ = adult females, S ♀ = subadult females.

Specimen	QHU R 2025058	QHU R 2025055	QHU R 2025056	QHU R 2025059	QHU R 2025060	QHU R 2025061	N = 6
Type	Holotype	Paratype	Paratype	Paratype	Paratype	Paratype	–
Sex	♀	♀	S ♀	♀	S ♀	♀
Original tail	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
SVL	48.7	45.1	34.3	47	35.7	43.1	34.3–48.7
TAL	81.3 +	48.7 +	59.6	56.0 +	62.7	44.7 +	–
TL	–	–	93.9	–	98.4	–	–
TAL / SVL	–	–	1.74	–	1.76	–	1.74 – 1.76
TAW	4.33	3.49	2.97	3.56	2.93	3.33	2.93–4.33
TAD	3.65	3.73	2.84	3.42	2.85	3.16	2.84–3.73
AGD	28.88	25.9	18.62	28.54	19.95	25.17	18.62–28.88
AGD / SVL	0.59	0.57	0.54	0.61	0.56	0.58	0.54–0.61
MBW	5.91	4.74	4.09	5.68	3.7	4.15	3.7–5.91
MBD	5.12	3.99	3.3	5.29	3.97	4.12	3.3–5.29
HL 1	9.3	9.24	7.83	9.73	8.14	8.57	7.83–9.73
HL 2	7.58	7.59	6.26	7.55	6.28	6.97	6.26–7.59
HW	5.44	4.92	4.35	5.07	4.46	5.06	4.35–5.44
HH	4.27	4.01	2.74	4.08	3.27	3.78	2.74–4.27
ED	2.73	2.1	1.89	2.14	1.81	2.02	1.81–2.73
PD	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent	Absent
TD	1.38	1.35	1.11	1.43	1.33	1.44	1.11–1.44
END	1.82	1.93	1.52	1.69	1.61	1.44	1.44–1.93
EED	2.8	2.48	1.93	2.59	2.12	2.6	1.93–2.8
SNL	2.54	2.8	2.3	2.55	2.32	2.33	2.3–2.8
IND	1.67	1.54	1.23	1.23	1.15	1.33	1.15–1.67
IOD	2.88	2.75	2.2	2.51	2.26	2.69	2.2–2.88
FLL	9.02	8.43	7.24	8.5	7.95	8.36	7.24–9.02
HLL	12.16	12.59	9.57	11.78	9.98	11.23	9.57–12.59
FLL / SVL	0.19	0.19	0.21	0.18	0.22	0.19	0.18-0.22
HLL / SVL	0.25	0.28	0.28	0.25	0.28	0.26	0.25-0.28
FLL + HLL / AGD	0.73	0.81	0.90	0.71	0.90	0.78	0.71–0.90
Limbs adpressed	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
F 4 L	1.92	1.63	1.46	1.61	1.48	1.6	1.46–1.92
T 4 L	3.09	3.26	2.24	3.17	2.44	2.82	2.24–3.26
MBSR	26	26	26	25	25	26	25–26
DBR	1 / 2 + 6 + 1 / 2	1 / 2 + 6 + 1 / 2	1 / 2 + 6 + 1 / 2	1 / 2 + 6 + 1 / 2	1 / 2 + 4 + 1 / 2	1 / 2 + 6 + 1 / 2	1 / 2 + 6 (rarely 4) + 1 / 2
SRB	2–2.5 scales at widest	2–2.5 scales at widest	2–2.5 scales at widest	2–2.5 scales at widest	2–2.5 scales at widest	2–2.5 scales at widest	2–2.5 scales at widest
NU	4 / 4	4 / 3	4 / 3	3 / 4	4 / 3	4 / 3	3–4
PVSR	64	65	62	63	64	64	62–65
VS (Excluding GS)	45	43	45	45	44	45	43–45
GS	22	22	23	20	23	21	20–23
GS + VS	67	65	68	65	67	66	65–68
Lor	2	2	2	2	2	2	2
SL	7 / 7	7 / 7	7 / 7	7 / 7	7 / 7	7 / 7	7
IL	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	6
Chin	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
SCI	6 / 7	6 / 6	6 / 6	6 / 6	7 / 7	6 / 6	6–7
SO	4	4	4	4	4	4	4
TEMP	1 + 2 / 1 + 2	1 + 2 / 1 + 2	1 + 2 / 1 + 2	1 + 2 / 1 + 2	1 + 2 / 1 + 2	1 + 2 / 1 + 2	1 + 2
FrN	1	1	1	1	1	1	1
PF	Separated	Separated	Separated	Separated	Separated	Separated	Separated
F 4 S	7 / 8	7 / 7	6 / 8	8 / 7	9 / 8	8 / 7	6–9
T 4 S	11 / 12	12 / 12	11 / 11	11 / 12	13 / 12	12 / 11	11–13
UMLLS	Wavy and irregular	Wavy and irregular	Wavy and irregular	Wavy and irregular	Wavy and irregular	Wavy and irregular	Wavy and irregular
VDM	Immaculate	Immaculate	Immaculate	Immaculate	Immaculate	Immaculate	Immaculate