Lost and Found: Taxonomic revision of the speckled skink (Oligosoma infrapunctatum; Reptilia; Scincidae) species complex from New Zealand reveals a potential cryptic extinction, resurrection of two species, and description of three new species.

New Zealand has a diverse skink fauna, comprising 45 described native species, and at least 15 undescribed taxa, within the single genus Oligosoma Girard, 1857. One of the earliest described, and best known, species is the speckled skink, Oligosoma infrapunctatum (Boulenger 1887). Despite a relatively stable taxonomic history for nearly 114 years, recent molecular work has indicated that O. infrapunctatum represents a species complex, comprising numerous genetically divergent, range restricted taxa. We completed the first stage of a taxonomic revision of O. infrapunctatum, conducting a morphological re-evaluation of existing voucher material, and newly collected specimens, and generated a molecular phylogeny for the species complex. This allowed us to distinguish six species: O. infrapunctatum, two species resurrected from synonymy (O. newmani, O. robinsoni), and three new species (O. salmo sp. nov., O. albornense sp. nov. O. auroraensis sp. nov.). The name bearing type population of O. infrapunctatum has not been located again for at least 130 years: it remains to be rediscovered and may already be extinct. Two of the six species here are considered 'Nationally Critical' (O. albornense sp. nov., O. salmo sp. nov.) under the New Zealand Threat Classification System, the others are Nationally Vulnerable (O. auroraensis sp. nov.) and At Risk-Relict (O. newmani, O. robinsoni). Further taxonomic work will be required to determine the taxonomy of other speckled skink genetic lineages in the South Island, particularly O. aff. infrapunctatum "cobble", O. "Hokitika", O. "Southern North Island" and O. "Westport".

Taxonomic revision of the ornate skink (Oligosoma ornatum; Reptilia: Scincidae) species complex from northern New Zealand.

Although the New Zealand skink fauna is known to be highly diverse, a substantial proportion of the recognised species remain undescribed. We completed a taxonomic revision of the ornate skink (Oligosoma ornatum (Gray, 1843)) as a previous molecular study indicated that it represented a species complex. As part of this work we have resolved some nomenclatural issues involving this species and a similar species, O. aeneum (Girard, 1857). A new skink species, Oligosoma roimata sp. nov., is described from the Poor Knights Islands, off the northeast coast of the North Island of New Zealand. This species is diagnosed by a range of morphological characters and genetic differentiation from O. ornatum. The conservation status of the new taxon appears to be of concern as it is endemic to the Poor Knights Islands and has rarely been seen over the past two decades.

New Zealand geckos (Diplodactylidae): Cryptic diversity in a post-Gondwanan lineage with trans-Tasman affinities.

We used a multi-gene approach to assess the phylogenetic relationships of New Zealand diplodactylid geckos to their Australian and New Caledonian relatives and to one another. Data from nuclear (RAG-1, PDC) and mitochondrial (ND2, 16S) genes from >180 specimens representing all 19 recognized New Zealand taxa and all but two of 20 putatively new species suggested by previous studies were analyzed using Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian inference. All analyses retrieved a monophyletic New Zealand clade, most closely related to the Australian Diplodactylidae exclusive of Pseudothecadactylus. Hoplodactylus is paraphyletic and composed of two morphological groups: a broad-toed clade, consisting of the island-restricted, largest extant species, Hoplodactylus duvaucelii, and the species-rich, wide-ranging Hoplodactylus maculatus clade; and a narrow-toed clade, comprising five monophyletic subgroups: Naultinus, the Hoplodactylus pacificus and Hoplodactylus granulatus clades, and the distinctive species Hoplodactylus rakiurae and Hoplodactylus stephensi. Each of these lineages is here recognized at the generic level. Our data support recognition of 16 new species (36 total), and five new or resurrected genera (seven total). The New Zealand diplodactylid radiation split from its Australian relatives 40.2mya (95% highest posterior density estimate 28.9-53.5), after the opening of the Tasman Sea. Their distribution cannot, therefore, be regarded as derived as a result of Gondwanana vicariance. The age of the New Zealand crown group, 24.4mya (95% highest posterior density estimate 15.5-33.8), encompasses the period of the 'Oligocene drowning' of New Zealand and is consistent with the hypothesis that New Zealand was not completely inundated during this period. Major lineages within New Zealand geckos diverged chiefly during the mid- to late Miocene, probably in association with a suite of geological and climatological factors that have characterized the region's complex history.