Parvoscincus tagapayo, the Aurora mountain skink, is a species of lizard in the family Scincidae. The species is endemic to the Philippines.
Etymology The specific name, tagapayo, is a Tagalog word meaning "wise entrusted friend, advisor, or mentor", referring to American herpetologist Walter Creighton Brown, in whose honor this species is named.Beolens B, Watkins M, Grayson M (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (Sphenomorphus tagapayo, p. 41).
Geographic range P. tagapayo is found on the island of Luzon, Philippines.
Habitat The preferred natural habitat of P. tagapayo is forest, at altitudes of .
Reproduction The mode of reproduction of P. tagapayo is unknown.
References
Further reading Brown RM, McGuire JA, Ferner JW, Alcala AC (19999). "New Species of Diminutive Scincid Lizard (Squamata: Lygosominae: Sphenomorphus) from Luzon Island, Republic of the Philippines". Copeia 1999 (2): 362–370. (Sphenomorphus tagapayo, new species). Brown RM, McGuire JA, Ferner JW, Icarangal N, Kennedy RS (2000). "Amphibians and reptiles of Luzon Island, II: preliminary report on the herpetofauna of Aurora Memorial National Park, Philippines". Hamadryad 25 (2): 175–195. Linkem CW, Diesmos AC, Brown RM (2011). "Molecular systematics of the Philippine forest skinks (Squamata: Scincidae: Sphenomorphus): testing morphological hypotheses of interspecific relationships". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 163: 1217–1243. (Parvoscincus tagapayo, new combination).