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This question of subspecies integrades of monkey scincid Corucia zebrata will be …
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The Monkey skink Corucia zebrata is known from two documented subspecies. Corucia zebrata zebrata - Gray, 1855. Corucia zebrata alfredschmidti - Kohler, 1997. The following is an excerpt from the introduction of subspecies comparison of the Genus: Corucia - Jones/Schnirel (2006): "Corucia zebrata zebrata described and named (Gray, 1855) and Corucia zebrata alfredschmidti described and named (Kohler, 1997) represent the two subspecies of Corucia zebrata - the prehensile tailed monkey skink. The common monkey skink hails from the larger islands of the Solomon archipelago southeast of Buka and Bougainville. This includes Choiseul, Guadalcanal, Isabel, Malaita, Nggla, New Georgia, Santa Ana, San Cristobal, Shortlands, and Ugi (Balsai, 1995). The North Solomon monkey skink (Corucia zebrata alfredschmidti) hails from the North Solomons which are comprised of Bougainville and Buka (Kohler, 1997). Bougainville is by far the largest island in the archipelago and being on the northeast fringe of these islands, supported the establishment of peripheral isolates evolving into the subspecies alfredschmidti. This is supported by the sheer number and larger distribution of the subspecies zebrata in the southeastern islands. The core population of Corucia zebrata zebrata appears to be from Quadalcanal (Balsai, 1995). The allopathic subspeciation of the Genus: Corucia reveals a larger size of Corucia zebrata alfredschmidti compared to Corucia zebrata zebrata. Indeed, a semi-Wallace line appears to exist between Bougainville and Choiseul. "There is an affinity along the lines of Bougainville - Choiseul, separated by the Bougainville strait, in which the faunal differences are relatively distinct (faunal differences 86%)" (Green/Slade, 1968). Other animals show a size differential with the populations on Bougainville being generally larger than that on Choiseul. The monkey faced flying fox (Pteralopex anceps) on Bougainville is also larger (255-280 mm). On Choiseul, next to Bougainville, the population is smaller (160-275mm) (E. Bowen-Jones 1997). "
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