A NEW BLIND SKINK (REPTILIA: DIBAMIDAE: Dibamus) FROM BUTON ISLAND, INDONESIA

Blind skinks of the genus Dibamus are one of the least studied squamate taxa, only represented by a
limited number of museum specimens. Here we study the taxonomy of Dibamus novaeguineae sensu
lato in Indonesia by examining all the available museum specimens collected from Wallacea and
mainland West Papua deposited at the Museum Zoologicum Bogorienese (MZB) and evaluate
morphological and biogeographic evidence. We also include all published data on specimens that
were attributed to that species. Dibamus novaeguineae is widely distributed throughout mainland
Papua, Maluku, Sulawesi, and adjacent islands, the Lesser Sunda Islands, and the Philippines. We
compare D. novaeguineae sensu stricto on Papua and sensu lato populations on the Lesser Sunda
Islands and demonstrate that the D. cf. novaeguineae population on Buton Island represents a distinct
endemic phenotype. Based on morphological and scalation differences, we here describe this isolated
population on Buton, an island off the coast of southeastern Sulawesi, as a new species. We further
discuss the biogeography of that new species.