AUSTRALIAN BIODIVERSITY RECORD - Calodema

Australian Biodiversity Record, 2009 (3): 1-96
line of demarcation in colouration between the dorsal and lateral surfaces of the body. The
sides of the head are densely spotted with brown, and the labials are boldly spotted with
brown also, making the side of the head noticeably darker than the body. Ventrally, pale
yellowish or creamish under the body, with some fine brown spotting along the ventrolateral
margin and heavy brown spotting under the tail; the chin and throat are lightly streaked or
dotted with brown. Some significant features of this species' morphology are: snout pointed
and head barely distinct from neck; body scales smooth and shiny, in 18-20 rows at mid-body;
supranasals absent; nasals separated; parietals in contact behind the interparietal; prefrontal
contacting first preocular; supraoculars 4; ear-opening present but small, not as large as the
nasal scale; ear lobules absent; lower eyelid movable and scaly; supralabials 7; postmental
usually contacting one, or rarely two infralabials on each side; tiny, but well-developed
pentadactyl limbs, that fail to overlap when adpressed; 4th toe much longer than 3rd;
subdigital lamellae beneath 4th toe 11-14 smooth and entire. Attains a maximum total length
of around 140 mm. with a snout-vent length of about 55-70 mm.
Distribution: Known only from a wide area of mid to north-eastern Queensland, ranging from
Kaban (just south of Herberton), in the north-east to Mt Walsh National Park (west of
Maryborough) in the south.
Habitat: Inhabits dry vine thickets (dry rainforest) and in open eucalypt forest and woodland
on well-drained sites with sandy or loamy soil, from about sea level up to 1000 metres
altitude. Generally found in drier, exposed or open places including rocky areas adjacent to or
within more densely vegetated habitats.
Biology/Ecology: A small burrowing species, often found sheltering beneath deep leaf-litter,
rotting logs as well as rocks on sand (including beaches and coastal dunes). It is somewhat
cryptozoic in habits, being active beneath cover such as logs and deep ground litter during
the day. This species is oviparous, producing up to three eggs in a clutch, and feeds entirely
on a wide range of small invertebrates.
Survival Status: Protected under the Qld Nature Conservation Act (1992) [see also the Qld
Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation Act (1994)]. Regarded as common.
Etymology: The name 'punctulatus' means 'spotted' and refers to the colour pattern in this
species.
Serenitas gen. nov.
Type Species: Hinulia pardalis Macleay, W. (1877). The lizards of the Chevert Expedition.
Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 2: 60-69 [63] [1878 on title page].
Diagnosis: A genus of medium-sized, elongate and robust lizards of the family Scincidae from
north-eastern Australia, readily differentiated from all other genera by the following
combination of characters: head shields regular, not fragmented; snout pointed and round in
profile; head barely distinct from neck; body scales smooth and glossy, in 22-30 rows at midbody;
55-68 paravertebrals, each broader than adjacent body scales (vs paravertebrals about
equal to adjacent dorsal scales in Mawsoniascincus); mid-dorsal scales conspicuously
broader and much larger than mid-ventral scales (vs mid-dorsals and mid-ventrals subequal
in Mawsoniascincus); supranasals absent; nasals widely separated; rostral broadly contacts
frontonasal; prefrontal not contacting first preocular; frontonasal about 1.5 wider than long,
frontonasal usually contacting frontal; prefrontals usually separated, but occasionally in
narrow contact; prefrontals large, and almost the same size as first supraocular; supraoculars
4, with 2nd being the largest; frontal contacts first two supraoculars; frontoparietals large and
in broad contact; parietals in contact behind the interparietal; parietals contact 4 th supraocular,
frontoparietal, interparietal, upper secondary temporal, two pretemporals, and 1 or 2 nuchals;
one pair of broadly enlarged nuchals; lower eyelid movable and scaly; loreals 2; preoculars 2,
lower the largest; presuboculars 2; postsuboculars 2, the second being the largest;
supraciliaries 6, with the first being the largest; nostril below centre (sub-central) of nasal
scale, almost in contact with first supralabial; supralabials 7, with the 5 th suborbital; infralabials
5; mental approx twice as wide as long; postmental in contact with either 1 or 2 infralabials; 3
pairs of enlarged chin shields; preanals 4 - enlarged and overlapping; ear-opening present but
small, with slight vertical compression (or not quite round) and not as large as, or nearly as
large as the nasal scale (vs ear-opening small and round, and smaller than nasal in
Glaphyromorphus; anterior ear lobules absent; well-developed but small pentadactyl limbs,
that fail to overlap when adpressed and separated by at least a limb length (vs limbs in
contact or overlapping when adpressed in Mawsoniascincus, or small, but well-developed
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