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102 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2008 PAUWELS

Biotope of Davewakeum miriamae at Sakaerat Experimental Research Station, showing the rocks on which lizards were found.



Although discovered nearly four decades ago, Miriam’s
Legless Skink (Davewakeum miriamae) is still one of the

least known Thai skinks. We “rediscovered” it and provide the
first picture of a live specimen with illustrations of its biotope.

In 1972, Dr. William Ronald Heyer described a new genus
and species of skink from dry evergreen forest in northeastern
Thailand, Davewakeum miriamae. The new taxa were dedicated
respectively to Dr. David B. Wake (University of California,
Berkeley) and to Miriam Harriet Muedeking, Ron Heyer’s wife,
the latter having collected the very first specimen of the type
series. The holotype was collected by the late Sukhum
Pongsapipatana, a promising Thai herpetologist who tragically
died too young, hit by a car in 1974.

As mentioned in the original description, the 17 types were
originally deposited at the Field Museum of Natural History
(FMNH, Chicago); however, four paratypes were later sent on
exchange to other institutions (FMNH 18542–545, sent respec-
tively to the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard; Los
Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Los Angeles; the
British Museum, London; and the Thailand Institute of

Scientific and Technological Research, Bangkok) (A. Resetar,
pers. comm., January 2008).

The distinctiveness of the taxon at the generic level, mainly
justified on cranial and scalation features, has always been
accepted. Brandley et al. (2005) and Greer (2002) stressed the
morphological similarities between Davewakeum and the other
Southeast Asian genus Brachymeles, but recognized these genera
as clearly distinct from each other. The genus Davewakeum
remains monotypic.

The Thai common name of Davewakeum is ching-laen-
duang Pakthongchai (Nabhitabhata et al. 2004, Thirakhupt
2000). Its English name is Miriam’s Legless Skink. We suggest the
French name scinque apode de Miriam and the Dutch/Flemish
name Miriam’s pootloze skink.

The holotype of Miriam’s Legless Skink was collected at
“Khao Saton, 300 m. above the Kasetsart University Forestry
Station, 60 km. S of Nakhon Ratchasima on Highway 304,
Amphoe [= District] Pak Thong Chai, Changwat [= Province]
Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand”; the paratypes all came from
this locality with the exception of one that was collected at
“Sakaerat Experiment Station, Amphoe Pak Thong Chai,
Changwat Nakhon Ratchasima.” Nabhitabhata et al. (2004)
listed the species from Sakaerat and Wang Nam Khieo
(Subdistrict), both in Pak Thong Chai District in Nakhon
Ratchasima Province, the only district and province from which
the species is known.

Ron Heyer’s team found specimens in dry evergreen forest
(partially cleared in the case of the Sakaerat paratype). They were
found by daytime underground (1–15 cm deep), often along
tree buttresses or under rocks (Heyer 1972, Heyer and Berven
1973, Inger and Colwell 1977). In contrast, one specimen
(Sakaerat’s paratype) was found active at 2140 h on the forest
floor less than a meter from a stream. Whether the species is
diurnal or active at night remains unknown, although the latter
observation alone suggests a nocturnal cycle. At one site in Khao
Saton, as many as ten individuals were found in a 4-m2 area, in
syntopy with the semi-fossorial skink Riopa bowringi (Günther,
1864) (Heyer 1972). The diet of Davewakeum is totally
unknown, but most probably includes various small leaf litter
invertebrates. Its reproductive biology is also unknown.

During an afternoon in November 2004, in dry evergreen
forest at Tham Jong Ang (“King Cobra Cave”; altitude ca. 400
m asl), Sakaerat Experimental Research Station (SERS), we dug

The Thai endemic, Miriam’s Legless Skink,
Davewakeum miriamae Heyer, 1972

Olivier S. G. Pauwels

Département des Vertébrés Récents, Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique (osgpauwels@yahoo.fr)

Photographs by the author.

IGUANA  •  VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2008 103MIRIAM’S LEGLESS SKINK

�

Live adult Davewakeum miriamae from Sakaerat Experimental
Research Station.



a large hole in a boulder filled with humus, and found two adult
Davewakeum miriamae a few centimeters from each other. As
soon as they were exhumed, they became extremely excited and
crawled surprisingly quickly; one even managed to escape by let-
ting itself fall from the boulder and disappearing into a rock
crevice, the other was caught but immediately lost its tail
(voucher IRSNB 17009). The species is very common at SERS,
where it is encountered frequently when gardening and digging
(T. Artchawakom, pers. comm., November 2004). The biotope
of Davewakeum miriamae, the dry evergreen forest of Sakaerat,
was described in detail by Lamotte et al. (1997).

Despite an apparently localized distribution, the species
does not appear to be threatened. Thirakhupt (2000: 163)
briefly reviewed its conservation status, qualified its commercial
value as low, and its biology and ecology as unknown and thus
not sufficient to clearly establish its status (“data deficient”). The
species is listed as “near-threatened” in the Thailand Red Data
list by Nabhitabhata and Chan-ard (2005), who forgot to indi-
cate its endemicity to Thailand; however, no information was
provided to justify this near-threatened status. The species is not
included in the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
(IUCN 2007). We have not seen or heard about the species in
the Thai or international reptile pet trade. Its fossorial habits,
small size, and dull coloration make it unappealing for hobby-
ists. At the time of its discovery, the species appeared to be locally
common (Heyer 1972) in dry evergreen forest, and it remains
common at least in Sakaerat. The Sakaerat site was nominated
as a UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserve and hence benefits
from some protective status. Investigators may yet be able to
document the presence of the species in Thap Lan National Park
(Nakhon Ratchasima Province), just south of the known local-
ities, and in adjacent Khao Yai National Park to the west and
part of the same low mountain range (the southern part of the
Phetchabun Mountain Range) that separates the Khorat Basin
from the Central Valley of Thailand.

Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Taksin Artchawakom, Director of SERS, for
his kind hospitality and support, to Chucheep Teak

Chimsunchart (Phetchaburi) for her help with the translation of
Thai herpetological literature, to Dr. Lawan Chanhome (Thai
Red Cross Society), Kirati Kunya (Korat Zoo), and Montri
Sumontha (Ranong Fisheries Station) for companionship in the
field, and to Dr. Ron Heyer (Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C.), Pascal A.R. Pauwels (Brussels), Alan Resetar
(FMNH), and Dr. Surachit Waengsothorn (Thailand Institute
of Scientific and Technological Research, Bangkok) for useful
information.

Literature Cited
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analyses, partition choice, and the phylogenetic relationships of scincid
lizards. Systematic Biology 54:373–390.

Greer, A.E. 2002. The loss of the external ear opening in scincid lizards. Journal
of Herpetology 36:544–555.

Heyer, W.R. 1972. A new limbless skink (Reptilia: Scincidae) from Thailand
with comments on the generic status of the limbless skinks of Southeast
Asia. Fieldiana Zoology 58:109–129.

Heyer, W.R. and K.A. Berven. 1973. Species diversities of herpetofaunal sam-
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Inger, R.F. and R.K. Colwell. 1977. Organization of contiguous communities
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IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The IUCN Species
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Lamotte, S., J. Gajaseni, and F. Malaisse. 1998. Structure diversity in three for-
est types of northeastern Thailand (Sakaerat Reserve, Pak Tong Chai).
Biotechnology, Agronomy, Society and Environment 2:192–202.

Nabhitabhata, J. and T. Chan-ard. 2005. Thailand Red Data: Mammals, Reptiles
and Amphibians. Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy
and Planning, Bangkok.

Nabhitabhata, J., T. Chan-ard, and Y. Chuaynkern. “2000” 2004. Checklist of
Amphibians and Reptiles in Thailand. Office of Environmental Policy and
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Thirakhupt, K. 2000. Amphibians and reptiles, pp. 149–171. In: Review of
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104 IGUANA  •  VOLUME 15, NUMBER 2  •  JUNE 2008 PAUWELS

Overview of the dry evergreen forest at Sakaerat Experimental Research
Station.

Miriam and Ron Heyer at the Smithsonian Institution (Washington,
D.C.) in December 2007.




