First record of the Common Wolfsnake, Lycodon capucinus (H. Boie in F. Boie 1827), from New Guinea, with comments on its widespread distribution and confused taxonomy, and a new record for the Common Sun Skink, Eutropis multifasciata (Kuhl 1820)

Authors

  • Mark O’Shea Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Wolverhampton
  • Kukuh Indra Kusuma Section LL Reclamation and Biodiversity, Environmental Department PT Freeport Indonesia JL Mandala Raya Selatan No. 1
  • Hinrich Kaiser Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17161/randa.v25i1.14247

Abstract

We report the first records of the Island Wolfsnake, Lycodon capucinus (H. Boie in F. Boie 1827) at Timika, Mimika Regency, Papua Province, Indonesian New Guinea. These are of considerable interest since they provide further proof for the ability of this species to disperse via human transport, and the expansion into New Guinea represents a significant milestone, a distance of 675 km (by air) from the closest known population on Seram Island in the Moluccan Archipelago. Of even broader interest is the fact that one of the specimens contained a prey item, a Common Sun Skink, Eutropis multifasciata (Kuhl 1820), in itself a significant territorial expansion for that species. We preface our reports with a comprehensive review of the available information on the Island Wolfsnake’s taxonomy and distribution. We also discuss the expansion of E. multifasciata across Wallacea and into New Guinea.

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Published

2018-04-01 — Updated on 2020-12-13

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Introduced Species

How to Cite

O’Shea, M., Kusuma, K. I., & Kaiser, H. (2020). First record of the Common Wolfsnake, Lycodon capucinus (H. Boie in F. Boie 1827), from New Guinea, with comments on its widespread distribution and confused taxonomy, and a new record for the Common Sun Skink, Eutropis multifasciata (Kuhl 1820). Reptiles & Amphibians, 25(1), 70-84. https://doi.org/10.17161/randa.v25i1.14247 (Original work published 2018)