Summary
We examined the potential effects of geography on the distribution and speciation of skinks on tropical Pacific archipelagos. The entire tropical Pacific skink fauna was divided into continental (found also in continental areas), Pacific (endemic to the study area but found within more than one archipelago) and endemic (found within only one archipelago) species categories. The number and proportion of skinks within each species category were determined for each of the 27 archipelagos in the study area. Nine geographic variables reflecting archipelago size, isolation and elevation were estimated for each archipelago. Principal components analysis was used to reduce the nine variables to three uncorrelated composite variables that were interpreted as representing archipelago size, isolation and elevation. Numbers and proportions of skinks in each category within an archipelago were related to the composite geographic variables using multiple linear regression analysis. Archipelago size and isolation were important predictors of both skink diversity and endemism. Results were then compared to diversity and endemism of birds within the study area. Skinks showed an archipelago-wide level of endemism similar to that of birds. On an archipelago by archipelago basis, however, large differences between birds and skinks were evident. In particular, the New Caledonia skink fauna was much more endemic than that of birds. The bird faunas of Hawaii and the Marquesas were nearly completely endemic, while no endemic skinks occurred in these two archipelagos. These differences presumably reflect the relative dispersal powers of skinks and birds and, consequently, rates of colonization and speciation. Differences may also be due partly to morphological conservatism among isolated skink populations and the occurrence of cryptic species that have not yet been identified as separate species. The discovery of such cryptic species, however, is unlikely to increase the endemic skink fauna of Hawaii and other distant archipelagos to a level commensurate with that of birds. Differences in endemism between skinks and birds may also be due to unknown local ecological interactions.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adler, G.H. (1992) Endemism in birds of tropical Pacific islands.Evol. Ecol. 6 296–306.
Adler, G.H. (1994) Avifaunal diversity and endemism on tropical Indian Ocean islands.J. Biogeogr. 21 85–96.
Adler, G.H., and Dudley, R. (1994) Butterfly biogeography and endemism on tropical Pacific islands.Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 51 151–62.
Austin, C.C. (1995) Molecular and morphological evolution in South Pacific scincid lizards: morphological conservatism and phylogenetic relationships of PapuanLipinia (Scincidae).Herpetologica 51 291–300.
Bauer, A.M. and Vindum, J.V. (1990) A checklist and key to the herpetofauna of New Caledonia, with remarks on biogeography.Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 47 17–45.
Blanc, C.P., Ineich, I. and Blanc, F. (1983) Composition et distribution de la faune des reptiles terrestres en Polynesie Française.Bull. Soc. Etudes Oceanennes (Polynesie Orientale) 18 1323–35.
Brown, W.C. (1991) Lizards of the genusEmoia (Scincidae) with observations on their evolution and biogeography.Mem. Calif. Acad. Sci. 15 1–94.
Brown, W.C. and Fehlmann, A. (1958) A new genus and species of arboreal scincid lizard from the Palau Islands.Occas. Pap. Nat. Hist. Mus. Stanford Univ. 6 1–7.
Bullivant, J.S. and McCann, C. (1974) Contributions to the natural history of Manihiki Atoll, Cook Islands.New Zealand Oceanogr. Inst. Mem. 31, 61–63.
Burt, E.E. and Burt, M.D. (1932) Herpetological results of the Whitney South Sea Expedition. VI. Pacific island amphibians and reptiles in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History.Bull Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 63 461–597.
Crombie, R.I. and Steadman, D.W. (1986) The lizards of Rarotonga and Mangaia, Cook Island Group, Oceanica.Pac. Sci. 40 44–57.
Diamond, J.M. (1977) Continental and insular speciation in Pacific land birds.Syst. Zool. 26 263–8.
Diamond, J.M. (1980) Species turnover in island bird communities.Proc. 19th Int. Ornithol. Congr. 777–82.
Diamond, J.M. (1984) Biogeographic mosaics in the Pacific. InBiogeography of the Tropical Pacific, (F.J. Radovsky, P.H. Raven and S.H. Sohmer, eds) pp. 1–14.Bishop Mus. Spec. Publ. No. 72.
Donnellan, S.C. and Aplin, K.P. (1989) Resolution of cryptic species in the New Guinean lizardSphenomorphus jobiensis (Scincidae) by electrophoresis.Copeia 1989 81–8.
Donnellan, S.C. and Hutchinson, M. (1990) Biochemical and morphological variation in the geographically widespread lizardLeiolopisma entrecasteauxii (Lacertilia: Scincidae).Herpetologica 46 149–59.
Dryden, G.L. and Taylor, E.H. (1969) Reptiles from the Mariana and Caroline Islands.Univ. of Kansas Sci. Bull. 48 269–79.
Fuhn, I.E. (1969a) The polyphyletic origin of the genusAblepharus (Reptilia, Scincidae): a case of parallel evolution.Z. Zool. Syst. Evol. 7 67–76.
Fuhn, I.E. (1969b) Revision and redefinition of the genusAblepharus Lichtenstein, 1823 (Reptilia, Scincidae).Rev. Roumaine Biol.-Zool. 14 23–41.
Gibbons, J. (1985) The biogeography and evolution of Pacific island repitles. InThe Biology of Australasian Frogs and Reptiles, (G. Grigg, R. Shine and H. Ehmann, eds), Surrey Beatty and Sons, Chipping, Norton, Australia.
Gill, B.J. (1990) Records of wildlife from Tonga, especially Vava'u.Rec. Auckland Inst. Mus. 27 165–73.
Gill, B.J. (1993) The lizards of the Pitcairn Island Group, South Pacific.New Zealand J. Zool. 20 161–4.
Gill, B.J. and Rinke, D.R. (1990) Records of reptiles from Tonga.Rec. Auckland Inst. Mus. 27 175.
Greer, A.E. (1974) The generic relationships of the scincid lizard genusLeiolopisma and its relatives.Aust. J. Zool. Suppl. Ser. 31 1–67.
Greer, A.E. and Mys, B. (1987) Resurrection ofLipinia rouxi (Hediger, 1934) (Reptilia: Lacertilia: Scincidae), another skink to have lost the left oviduct.Amphibia—Reptilia 8 417–18.
Greer, A.E. and Parker, F. (1974) Thefasciatus species group ofSphenomorphus (Lacertilia: Scincidae): notes on eight previously described species and descriptions of three new species.Papua New Guinea Sci. Soc. Proc. 1973 25 31–61.
Hutchinson, M.N., Donnellan, S.C., Baverstock, P.R., Krieg, M., Simms, S. and Burgin, S. (1990) Immunological relationships and generic revision of the Australian lizards assigned to the genusLeiolopisma (Scincidae: Lygosominae).Aust. J. Zool. 38 535–54.
Ineich, I. and Blanc, C.P. (1989) Distribution des reptiles terrestres en Polynesie Orientale.Atoll Res. Bull. [1988] 318 1–75.
Ineich, I. and Zug, G.R. (1991) Nomenclatural status ofEmoia cyanura (Lacertilia, Scincidae) populations in the central Pacific.Copeia 1991 1132–6.
Losos, J.B. (1986) Island biogeography of day geckos (Phelsuma) in the Indian Ocean.Oecologia (Berlin) 68 338–43.
McCoy, M. (1980)Reptiles of the Solomon Islands. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, HI.
McCoy, M. and Webber, P. (1984) Two new species of scincid lizards of the genusEmoia from Santa Cruz and Duff Islands, Solomon Islands.Copeia 1984 571–8.
McKeown, S. (1978)Hawaiian Reptiles and Amphibians. Oriental Publishing Company, Honolulu, HI, USA.
Mayr, E. (1965) Avifauna: turnover on islands.Science 150 1587–8.
Mertens, R. (1931)Ablepharus boutonii (Desjardin) und seine geographische Variation.Zool. Jahrbücher (Syst). 61 63–210.
Moritz, C., Case, T.J., Bolger, D.T. and Donnellan, S. (1993) Genetic diversity and the history of Pacific island house geckos (Hemidactylus andLepidodactylus).Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 48 113–33.
Mys, B. (1988) The zoogeography of the scincid lizards from North Papua New Guinea (Reptilia: Scincidae). I. The distribution of the species.Bull. L'Inst. Royal Sci Nat. Belgique, Biol. 58 127–83.
Raven, P.H. and Axelrod, D.I. (1972) Plate tectonics and Australasian paleobiogeography.Science 176 1379–86.
Whitaker, A.H. (1970) A note on the lizards of the Tokelau Islands, Polynesia.Herpetologica 26 355–8.
Williamson, M. (1981)Island Populations. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
Zug, R.G. (1991)The Lizards of Fiji: Natural History and Systematics. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, HI, USA.
Zug, R.G., Springer, V.G., Willimas, J.T. and Johnson, G.D. (1989) The vertebrates of Rotuma and surrounding water.Atoll Res. Bull. 316 1–25.
Zweifel, R.G. (1979) Variation in the scincid lizardLipinia noctua and notes on otherLipinia from the New Guinea region.Am. Mus. Novitates 2676 1–21.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Adler, G.H., Austin, C.C. & Dudley, R. Dispersal and speciation of skinks among archipelagos in the tropical Pacific Ocean. Evol Ecol 9, 529–541 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01237834
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01237834