32. Dibamus oetamai

Prasetyo, Yudha, Amarasinghe, Ineich, Gillespie, Riyanto, 2025

Publication :

Prasetyo MD, DS Yudha, AAT Amarasinghe, I Ineich, GR Gillespie, A Riyanto, (2025). A new blind skink (Reptilia: Dibamidae: Dibamus) from buton island, Indonesia. Taprobanica 14 (1): 25–38.

Remarks :

We discovered Dibamus oetamai from Buton Island, an island off the coast of southeastern Sulawesi, Indonesia. This species is allied to the species of Dibamus novaeguineae complex widely distributed throughout mainland Papua, Maluku, Sulawesi, and adjacent islands, the Lesser Sunda Islands, and the Philippines. This species is the twelfth Dibamus reported from Indonesia.

Etymology:
The specific epithet is a singular noun in the genitive case, honoring Dr. Jakob Oetama (27 Sep 1931–9 Sep 2020), a renowned journalist and the co-founder of Kompas Gramedia―the largest media group in Indonesia, for his enormous contribution to Indonesian Journalism. Dr. J. Oetama also served as the advisor to the Central Board of the Indonesian Journalists Association and the ASEAN Journalists Confederation.

English name: Buton blind skink
Indonesian (local) name: Kadal buta Buton