Skinks of the genus Sphenomorphus are the most diverse clade of squamates in the Philippine Archipelago. Morphological examination of these species has defined six phenotypic groups that are commonly used in characterizations of taxonomic hypotheses. We used a molecular phylogeny based on four mitochondrial and two nuclear genes to assess the group's biogeographical history in the archipelago and examine the phylogenetic validity of the currently recognized Philippine species groups. We re‐examined traditional characters used to define species groups and used multivariate statistics to quantitatively evaluate group structure in morphometric space. Clustering analyses of phenotypic similarity indicate that some (but not all) members of previously defined species groups are phenotypically most similar to other members of the same group. However, when species group membership was mapped on our partitioned Bayesian phylogenetic hypothesis, only one species group corresponds to a clade; all other species group arrangements are strongly rejected by our phylogeny. Our results demonstrate that (1) previously recognized species group relationships were misled by phenotypic convergence; (2) Sphenomorphus is widely paraphyletic; and (3) multiple lineages have independently invaded the Philippines. Based on this new perspective on the phylogenetic relationships of Philippine Sphenomorphus, we revise the archipelago's diverse assemblage of species at the generic level, and resurrect and/or expand four previously recognized genera, and describe two new genera to accommodate the diversity of Philippine skinks of the Sphenomorphus group. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 163, 1217–1243.

中文翻译：

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菲律宾森林石龙子 (Squamata: Scincidae: Sphenomorphus) 的分子系统学：测试种间关系的形态学假设

Sphenomorphus 属的石龙子是菲律宾群岛中最多样化的有鳞类动物。这些物种的形态学检查已经定义了六个表型组，这些组通常用于分类学假设的表征。我们使用基于四个线粒体基因和两个核基因的分子系统发育来评估该组在群岛中的生物地理历史，并检查当前公认的菲律宾物种组的系统发育有效性。我们重新检查了用于定义物种组的传统特征，并使用多变量统计来定量评估形态空间中的组结构。表型相似性的聚类分析表明，先前定义的物种组的一些（但不是全部）成员在表型上与同一组的其他成员最相似。然而，当物种组成员关系被映射到我们的分区贝叶斯系统发育假设上时，只有一个物种组对应于一个进化枝；我们的系统发育强烈拒绝所有其他物种组的排列。我们的结果表明 (1) 先前公认的物种群关系被表型趋同所误导；(2) Sphenomorphus 广泛并系；(3) 多个宗族独立入侵菲律宾。基于对菲律宾 Sphenomorphus 系统发育关系的这种新观点，我们在属级水平上修改了该群岛的多种物种组合，并复活和/或扩展了四个先前公认的属，并描述了两个新属，以适应蝶形组。© 2011 伦敦林奈协会，