A new species of the genus Scincella Mittleman, 1950 (Squamata, Scincidae) from Guizhou Province, southwest China

A new species of the genus <i>Scincella</i> Mittleman is described from Qixingguan District, Bijie City, Guizhou Province, China, based on morphological and molecular evidence. The new species, <i>Scincella tenuistriata</i> <b>sp. nov.</b>, is diagnosed by the medium body size; tympanum diameter significantly larger than the palpebral disc; midbody scale rows 24; total ventral + gular scale rows numbering 61-66; toes nearly or just touching fingers when limbs are adpressed; 9 or 10 enlarged lamellae beneath finger IV, and 11 or 12 beneath toe IV; and the dark dorsolateral stripes narrow and wavy, covering 0.5-1 scale rows on the trunk, with four scale rows in between on the dorsum. Phylogenetic analyses based on the mitochondrial <i>12S</i>, <i>16S</i>, and <i>CO1</i> gene fragments indicate that the new species is most closely related to <i>S. alia</i> Bragin, Zenin, Nguyen & Poyarkov, but differs by an uncorrected <i>p</i>-distance of 8.6-8.8% in the <i>CO1</i> gene. The discovery of the new species raises the number of currently recognized <i>Scincella</i> species to 51, underscoring the underestimated diversity of the genus.