Whitaker Tony, Chapple David G, Hitchmough Rodney A, Lettink Marieke, Patterson Geoff B
270 Thorpe-Orinoco Road, Orinoco, RD1, Motueka 7196, New Zealand.
Zootaxa. 2018 Jan 31;4377(2):269-279. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.4377.2.7.
New Zealand has a diverse, endemic skink fauna, which is recognised as the most species rich skink assemblage of any cool temperate region on earth. All native New Zealand skink species are assigned to a single genus, Oligosoma Girard. A new species of Oligosoma is described from screes in montane tussock grassland in the mid-Canterbury high country, New Zealand, where it is currently known from four sites on two mountain ranges. The new species (Oligosoma hoparatea sp. nov.) can be distinguished from all congeners by a combination of mid-body scale row and lamellae counts, scale morphologies, and a bold striped pattern with smooth-edged, dark lateral bands. It is part of the O. longipes Patterson species complex, and occurs in sympatry with its closest relative, O. aff. longipes 'southern'. The species is currently highly threatened, and is listed as Nationally Critical in New Zealand. Predation by a suite of introduced mammals is assumed to be a major threat to its survival.
新西兰拥有多样的本土石龙子动物群，被认为是地球上所有凉爽温带地区物种最丰富的石龙子组合。所有新西兰本土石龙子物种都被归入单属——奥氏石龙子属（Oligosoma Girard）。本文描述了一种来自新西兰中坎特伯雷高地山区草丛碎石地的新奥氏石龙子物种，目前已知其分布于两条山脉的四个地点。新物种（奥氏霍帕雷亚石龙子，Oligosoma hoparatea sp. nov.）可通过体中段鳞片行数、鳞下片数、鳞片形态以及带有边缘光滑的深色侧带的醒目条纹图案与所有同属物种区分开来。它是长肢奥氏石龙子（O. longipes Patterson）物种复合体的一部分，与其关系最近的近亲——近似长肢奥氏石龙子“南部种群”（O. aff. longipes'southern'）同域分布。该物种目前面临高度威胁，在新西兰被列为国家濒危物种。一系列外来哺乳动物的捕食被认为是其生存的主要威胁。
