The Terrestrial Herpetofauna of the Loyalty Islands

Abstract

The terrestrial herpetofauna of the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia, is reviewed. This is the first comprehensive account of the reptile fauna of these islands since Roux's monograph on the region in 1913 and is based on recent collections made in August 1987 and a review of the collections made by Roux and Sarasin and housed in the Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel. Seventeen species of lizards and two species of snakes (one boid and one typhlopid) occur in the Loyalty Islands. Approximately half the lizard species are endemic to the New Caledonia/Loyalty Islands region, but only one, Emoia loyaltiensis (Roux), is endemic to the Loyalties alone. The remaining lizard species have widespread distributions throughout the Pacific. Most widespread species also occur on mainland New Caledonia, but several (Gehyra vorax Girard, Emoia cyanura [Lesson], and Candoia bibroni [Dumeril & Bibron]) do not.