Malagasy scincid lizards: descriptions of nine new species, with notes on the morphology, reproduction and taxonomy of some previously described species (Reptilia, Squamata: Scincidae) Franco Andreone 1 and Allen E. Greer 2 * 1 Sezione di Zoologia, Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Via G. Giolitti, 36, I-10123 Torino, Italy 2 Herpetology Section, The Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia (Accepted 25 October 2001) Abstract The taxonomy and/or natural history of 33 species of scincid lizards from Madagascar are reviewed. Most of the material, consisting of 187 specimens now housed in the Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Turin, Italy, has been collected recently, but some dates to the 19th century. Nine new species are described in three genera: Amphiglossus mandady, A. nanus, A. spilostichus, A. stylu, A. tanysoma, Paracontias manify, P. hafa, P. tsararano and Pseudoacontias menamainty, increasing the known skink fauna of Madagascar (62 species) by 14.5%. All the new species come from the closed forests of north-eastern Madagascar. Additionally, Amphiglossus praeornatus is resurrected from the synonymy of A. fronto- parietalis, and Androngo alluaudi, A. crenni and A. elongatus are transferred to the genus Amphiglossus. There is also a key to the species of Paracontias and a new interspeci®cally variable character for Mabuya. Information on morphological variation, basic reproductive biology, habits and habitats is provided, as available, for all species. Perhaps most interestingly, Amphiglossus nanus n. sp. represents the eighth skink lineage in which an oviduct has been lost and Amphiglossus melanopleura decreases the number of longitudinal scale rows at mid-body and the number of subdigital lamellae with altitude. Key words: conservation, Madagascar, morphology, new combinations, new species, reproduction, Scincidae INTRODUCTION Since the early 1990s there has been a concerted effort to inventory the fauna of Madagascar before it is degraded and destroyed. As part of this effort, F. Andreone and co-workers carried out a series of surveys, mainly in northern Madagascar, an area with a spectacular biodiversity. These surveys have revealed additional specimens of previously poorly known species as well as several new species of both frogs (Andreone, Glaw et al., 1998) and reptiles (Andreone & Raxworthy, 1998; Nussbaum, Andreone & Raxworthy, 1998; Andreone, Mattioli et al., 2001). Some of the most interesting and poorly known taxa found in the surveys are scincid lizards, a group which has radiated exten- sively on Madagascar with many genera and species but which, despite having been reviewed twice in the past 60 years (Angel, 1942 and E. R. Brygoo's series of 19 papers between 1979 and 1987), continues to harbour a surprising number of new species. Most of the skinks collected during the recent surveys have been registered into the collections of the Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali in Turin (MRSN) and form the core material of this report. However, the MRSN also now houses some older Malagasy skink specimens which were previously in the Museo di Zool- ogia dell'Universita Á di Torino (MZUT), and these specimens are also considered here (Appendix 2). The skinks housed in the MRSN (MRSN and MZUT collec- tions) consist of 187 specimens representing three genera of non-lygosomines: Amphiglossus (19 species including ®ve that are new species), Paracontias (four species, including three that are new) and Pseudoacontias (one new species); and two genera of lygosomines: Cryptoble- pharus (two species) and Mabuya (six species). In addition to the specimens housed in the MRSN, some incidental observations made by AEG on Malagasy skinks in other collections are also included. Our purpose in this report is threefold. First, we describe nine new species of skinks discovered during recent survey work in Madagascar (Fig. 1). Second, we discuss certain aspects of the morphology, reproduction, distribution and taxonomy of some previously described species of Malagasy skinks housed in the MRSN and *All correspondence to: A. E. Greer, Herpetology Section, The Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia. E-mail: alleng@austmus.gov.au F. Andreone. E-mail: f.andreone@libero.it J. Zool., Lond. (2002) 258, 139±181 # 2002 The Zoological Society of London Printed in the United Kingdom DOI:10.1017/S0952836902001280