Scincella alia Bragin, Zenin, Dang, Dinh, Nguyen & Poyarkov, 2025, sp. nov.

Scincella alia sp. nov. Bragin, Zenin, Nguyen & Poyarkov http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: E6A4DBCD-E2C8-474F-8C64-F93B39956936 (Figures 3–6; Table 3) Holotype. ZMMU Re-18147 (field no. NAP-15700) (Figs. 3–6), adult male, from Chieu Lau Thi (also Kieu Lieu Ti) Mountain within Tay Con Linh range in Ho Thau Commune, Hoang Su Phi District, Ha Giang Province, northeastern Vietnam (22.65997°N, 104.60969°E; elevation 2094 m asl.) collected by A. M. Bragin on March 14, 2024. Paratypes (n=8). Eight individuals were collected from the same locality as the holotype, including four adult males VRTC NAP15694 (field no. NAP-15694), VRTC NAP15699 (field no. NAP-15699), ZMMU Re-18150 (field no. NAP-15701) and VRTC NAP15702 (field no. NAP-15702); and four adult females ZMMU Re-18148 (field no. NAP-15695), VRTC NAP15696 (field no. NAP-15696), ZMMU Re-18149 (field no. NAP-15697), and VRTC NAP15698 (field no. NAP-15698). Referred materials (n=6). Six individuals, including adult male VRTC NAP14089 (field no. NAP-14089); two adult females VRTC NAP14081 (field no. NAP-14081) and VRTC NAP14092 (field no. NAP-14092); and three subadult individuals VRTC NAP14084 (field no. NAP-14084), VRTC NAP14085 (field no. NAP-14085), and VRTC NAP14087 (field no. NAP-14087) from Tay Con Linh Mountain within Tay Con Linh Range in Cao Bo Commune, Vi Xuyen District, Ha Giang Province of northeastern Vietnam (22.80169°N, 104.8068°E; elevation 2369 m asl.) collected by A. M. Bragin and N. A. Poyarkov on April 20–24, 2023. Six individuals, including adult male ZMMU Re-18154 (field no. NAP-14090); three adult females ZMMU Re-18153 (field no. NAP-14088), ZMMU Re-18155 (field no. NAP-14091), and ZMMU Re-18156 (field no. NAP-14093); and two subadult individuals ZMMU Re-18151 (field no. NAP-14082) and ZMMU Re-18152 (field no. NAP-14083) from Tay Con Linh Mountain within Tay Con Linh Range in Cao Bo Commune, Vi Xuyen District, Ha Giang Province of northeastern Vietnam (22.80169°N, 104.8068°E; elevation 2369 m asl.) collected by A. M. Bragin and N. A. Poyarkov on April 20–24, 2023. Etymology. The specific epithet of the new species is formed from the Latin adjective “ alius ” (“ alia ” in feminine gender), meaning “another” or rather “different one.” This name is given in reference to the fact that this species represents yet another representative of the Scincella potanini - monticola complex, which all are morphologically quite similar to each other. We propose the following common names for this species: “ Tay Con Linh Ground Skink ” in English, “ Thằn lằn cổ Tây Côn Lĩnh ” in Vietnamese, and “ Teikonlinskiy malyi stsink ” (« ТэйкОнЛиньский мАЛЫй сцинк ») in Russian. Diagnosis. Scincella alia sp. nov. can be easily distinguished from all other congeners by the following unique combination of morphological features: (1) slender, medium-sized body, snout-vent length 38.2–48.2 mm; (2) prefrontals separated from each other; (3) infralabials seven; (4) supraciliaries six; (5) two preoculars, three presuboculars, two postoculars, three postsuboculars; (6) supralabials separated from the eye by a row of small scales; (7) tympanum deeply recessed without lobules; (8) midbody scale rows 26 (rarely 28); (9) dorsal scales smooth, slightly enlarged, with 56–63 paravertebral scale rows, 66–76 ventral scale rows (including gulars); (10) upper edge of the lateral longitudinal stripes relatively straight, with four rows of dorsal scales in the middle; (11) enlarged, undivided lamellae beneath finger IV 7–10; (12) enlarged, undivided lamellae beneath toe IV 11–13; (13) ventral surface of head and belly lacking black spots, ventral surface of tail ornamented with dark spots; (14) dorsal surface of body grayish brown with small dark and pale spots; (15) ventral surface of throat, belly, and base of tail ranging from cream yellow in females to lemon yellow in males. Description of the holotype (Figs. 3–6). Adult male in a good state of preservation with 20 mm long midventral incision; hemipenes fully everted to determine sex and for description; specimen preserved in linear manner; tail curved to right (SVL 46.1 mm; TaL 84.8 mm; total length 130.9 mm); snout rounded and acute in dorsal and lateral aspects (EED/END 1.88); nostril with lateral orientation, slightly oval, posterior edge oriented diagonally upward, situated much closer to the snout tip than to the eye (END/SNL 0.71); head robust, longer than wide (HL2/HW 1.2). Body slender (MBW/SVL 0.15); head widened posteriorly; border between head and neck clearly visible. Forelimbs and hindlimbs relatively short and stout (FLL/SVL 0.22; HLL/SVL 0.28), normally developed, each with five digits; tips of digits of adpressed forelimbs and hindlimbs do not meet; adpressed forelimbs do not reach eye; forearm very short (ForL/SVL ratio 0.09) 4.3 mm; tibia shorter than forearm (TBL/ForL 0.7), and than femur (TBL 3.4 mm, FML 5.1 mm; TBL/SVL 0.07; TBL/FML ratio 0.66); digits moderately long, slender, ending with distinctly visible, sharp, thin, slightly curved and pointed claws (Figs. 4, 5 A, B). Subdigital lamellae smooth on manus and pes, entire; number of subdigital lamellae (without taking into account claw sheaths): on right manus 4-6-9-10-6; on right pes 5-8-10-12-10. Relative lengths of digits: left manus IV> III> V> II> I; left pes IV> III> V> II> I. Scales on dorsal and ventral surfaces of limbs smooth and imbricate; femoral scales large with longitudinal orientation. Scales on palmar and plantar regions much smaller than the associated digital lamellae and scales on ventral surfaces of limbs; rounded, smooth, slightly convex (Fig. 4 D, E). Other measurements and ratios are given in Table 3. Rostral wider (1.7 mm) than high (0.7 mm), in contact with first supralabials, nasals, and frontonasal (Figs. 4 A, B; 6 A, B); nasals not in contact; nasal posteriorly in contact with slightly smaller anterior loreal; laterally widely in contact with first supralabial and slightly contacting second supralabial. A large single frontonasal in broad contact with rostral anteriorly and frontal posteriorly; widely in contact with nasals, anterior loreal, and prefrontal laterally. Prefrontals separated by frontal. Prefrontals anteriorly in contact with frontonasal, posteriorly in contact with frontal, first supraocular, and first supraciliary scale, laterally in contact with anterior and posterior loreals. Frontal large, nearly twice as long as wide, irregularly shaped, pentagonal with slightly rounded tapering posterior margin, contacting frontonasal, prefrontals, and first supraciliaries anteriorly, in wide contact with first and second supraoculars laterally, in wide contact with frontoparietals posteriorly. Frontoparietals widely in contact with parietals and interparietal scale posteriorly, contacting frontal and second, third, and fourth supraoculars anterolaterally. Interparietal rhomboidal in shape, posteriorly in contact with parietals; parietal eye clearly visible. Parietal anteriorly in contact with frontoparietal, interparietal, and in slight contact with fourth supraocular; laterally touching upper secondary temporal, upper and lower pretemporals; in contact with one (right parietal) and two (left parietal) nuchals posteriorly. Parietal overlapping upper secondary temporal (Fig. 6 A, B). Four supraoculars, second the largest, decreasing in size in both directions. Scales on lateral aspect of head with small pits (likely for sensory papillae), scattered all over their surface (Fig. 4 A –С). Nostrils with lateral orientation, slightly oval, posterior edge oriented diagonally upward, located in center of nasal. Nasal undivided. Postnasals absent. Anterior and posterior loreals roughly quadrangular, posterior loreal wider than anterior loreal; anterior loreal anteriorly in contact with nasal and frontonasal, posteriorly in contact with posterior loreal and prefrontal, laterally in contact with second supralabial. Posterior loreal anteriorly in contact with anterior loreal and prefrontal, posteriorly in contact with first enlarged supraciliary scale, preoculars, and presubocular, laterally slightly touching second and widely in contact with third supralabials. Two preoculars, the upper one smaller than the lower one; two presuboculars. Anterior presubocular located between the lower edge of anterior preocular, posterior margin of posterior loreal, and upper edge of third supralabial. Middle presubocular located between the anterior presubocular and the upper edges of third and fourth supralabials. Posterior presubocular located between the posterior margin of the middle presubocular and the upper edges of fourth and fifth supralabials. Middle and posterior presuboculars separated from postsuboculars by protruding upper edge of fifth supralabial. Upper eyelid bordered by six supraciliaries and ten ciliary scales; supraciliary row not interrupted. An enlarged scale located between first two supraciliaries, upper preocular and first two ciliary scales. Lower eyelid with 16 ciliary scales; scales covering lower eyelid slightly oval or diamond-shaped, tightly adjacent, overlapping neighboring scales. Lower eyelid with oval, horizontally oriented, large transparent window (PDD 0.58 mm). Upper edge of transparent window in contact with lower edge of ciliaries, comprising almost half of horizontal diameter of orbit in length. Seven supralabials, gradually increasing in size, sixth and seventh supralabials the largest; fifth supralabial located below center of eye; fourth, fifth and sixth supralabials separated from lower edge of eye by presuboculars, postsuboculars, and by a row of small scales. Two postoculars; upper one three times larger than lower one, anteriorly in contact with last supraciliary and last supraocular, posteriorly in contact with upper pretemporal, laterally in contact with lower postocular and last ciliary scale; lower postocular anteriorly in contact with upper one and small scales, separating it from eyelid, po