The Reptiles of Nauru1 By Buden, Donald W Abstract: Eleven
species of reptiles are reported from Nauru in the first
systematic treatment of the herpetofauna. Four of the species
are marine; the seven others include six lizards (four geckos,
two skinks) and one snake. Gehyra mutilata (Wiegman), G.
oceanica (Lesson), Pelamis platura (Linnaeus), and
Ramphotyphlops braminus (Daudin) are recorded on Nauru for the
first time. With the exception of Emoia arnoensis Brown &
Marshall, which is endemic to eastern Micronesia, the
herpetofauna consists of species that range widely among the
west-central Pacific Ocean islands. The only known record of E.
arnoensis from Chuuk possibly is based on a misassigned
locality, in which case the range of the species would be
limited to the Marshall Islands, Nauru, and Kosrae. There is no
evidence to suggest that habitat modification on Nauru stemming
largely from more than a century of phosphate mining has reduced
the number of reptile species. LITTLE IS KNOWN of the fauna of
the i