Diporiphora carpentariensis, MELVILLE & DATE & HORNER & Doughty, 2019

MELVILLE, JANE, DATE, KATIE SMITH, HORNER, PAUL & Doughty, Paul, 2019, Taxonomic revision of dragon lizards in the genus Diporiphora (Reptilia: Agamidae) from the Australian monsoonal tropics, Memoirs of Museum Victoria 78, pp. 23-55 : 50-51

Diporiphora carpentariensis sp. nov.

ZooBank LSID: http://zoobank.org/ urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:

6795AD24-03D8-4E4E-9FD8-4757AEE964C5

Common name. Gulf two-lined dragon.

Figure 21 , Tables 3, 4

Holotype. QM J88197 (adult male), Littleton National Park , northern Queensland (18.2243°S, 142.7489 E). Collected by E. Vanderduys on 20 November 2008.

Paratypes. NMV D74080 (adult female), Mt Turner Road, 5 km north of Gulf Development Road , Queensland (18.2692° S, 143.3647° E) ; NMV D74079 (adult male), Mt Turner Road, 20 km north of Gulf Development Road , Queensland (18.2733° S, 143.3656° E) ; NMV D74076 (adult female), road to Strathmore, 3 km north of Gulf Development Road , Queensland (18.1783° S, 142.8844° E) ; NMV D74068 (adult male), Bourke Development Road, 25 km NE of Karumba turnoff, Queensland (17.3931° S, 141.3989° E) .

Diagnosis. Moderately large body size (to 68 mm SVL), with adult males with very long tails (to 3 × SVL) and females with shorter tails (to 2.3× SVL). Gular fold absent, post-auricular fold weak to strong, scapular fold strong. Granular scales in axilla, extending over arm and along the full length of the scapular fold. Scales on neck in anterior to scapular fold small but not granular. Outer scale row in dorsolateral stripes lack raised trailing edge, without strong delimitation between dorsal and lateral surface. Pre-cloacal pores 4 or 5 (usually 4); femoral pores 0.

Description of holotype. Male; 62 mm SVL; 185 mm tail length. Medium-large Diporiphora , gracile with long limbs and very long tail. One canine on either side of upper jaw. Gular fold absent, post-auricular fold weak and scapular fold strong, extending onto edges of ventrum. Dorsal scales strongly keeled, relatively homogenous. Longitudinal series of raised but not enlarged pale paravertebral and dorsolateral scales at the shoulder, extending down back to base of tail. Scales on flanks homogeneous, although changing from small granular scales in axilla to small but non-granular scales on the posterior two-thirds of flanks. Cluster of small spinose scales on post-auricular fold with one cream-coloured spine being clearly larger than the others. Lacks spinose scales on limbs or tail. Granular scales in axilla, extending over arm and along the full length of the scapular fold. Scales on neck, anterior to scapular fold small but not granular. Ventral scales strongly keeled. Pre-cloacal pores 5 (2 on right; 3 on left); femoral pores 0.

Dorsum light brown with little patterning. Faint, broad grey vertebral stripe; well-defined cream dorsolateral stripes running from back of head to base of tail, associated with raised but not enlarged longitudinal scales. Dark transverse bands absent. Head relatively plain with little patterning, labials similar colour to rest of head and lacking pale line between eye and ear. Dark smudge on posterior of tympanum absent. On flanks, granular scales in axilla are dark brown then transition posteriorly into cream, grey and light brown without patterning; flanks have darker dorsal patterning above and pale cream ventrally; flecked with a few light brown scattered scales. Lateral stripe between axilla and groin absent. Dark patch in axilla, associated with granular scales, continues up over shoulder and down full length of scapular fold. Banding on limbs absent; faint banding on anterior third of tail, with dark bands narrower than the light bands. Ventral surface cream with no patterning.

Variation. 52–65 mm SVL; 118–187 mm tail length. Very long tail, ranging from 2.1–3.0 × SVL. Tail length appears to be sexually dimorphic with adult male tails ranging from 2.7–3.0 × SVL, while adult female tails ranging from 2.1–2.3 × SVL. Gular fold always absent, post-auricular fold weak to present, scapular fold strong, extending onto edges of ventrum. In some animals, a cluster of small spinose scales on post-auricular fold has an enlarged scales that is not obviously spinous. Pre-cloacal pores variable from 4–5 (usually 4); femoral pores always 0.

Variable patterning from strongly patterned individuals to plain individuals. In patterned individuals, eight or nine dark brown bands slightly offset to each other on either side of a broad undefined greyish vertebral stripe. Banding extends onto tail, fading out halfway down tail. Well-defined pale dorsolateral stripes, running from back of head to base of tail and becoming interrupted by banding pattern of tail. Flanks have faint poorly defined light brown lateral stripe, with darker dorsal patterning above and dark background colour extending slightly below stripe. Flanks flecked with a few light brown scattered scales. In more plain individuals, pale dorsolateral stripes from neck onto base of tail. Granular scales in axilla are dark brown or black, flanks cream, grey, light brown with little patterning. No white markings on head, labial scales speckled with light brown flecks. Faint or no banding on legs and tail. Ventral surface cream, usually plain but some individuals have faint dark flecking on ventral surface of head. Males with breeding colouration tend to lose some of their dorsal patterning, having a large back patch in axilla extending onto shoulder but not anteriorly of the scapular fold, and some males have a pink flush on base of tail.

Etymology. Named for the region in which this two-lined dragon occurs on the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Distribution and ecology. Diporiphora carpentariensis sp. nov. is restricted to the far north-east Gulf of Carpentaria region of Queensland at the western extent of Cape York Peninsula. More collecting is required to determine whether this species extends further west into the Gulf of Carpentaria region. It appears to be habitat generalist, occurring in tropical savannah woodlands and grasslands. Little is known about this species and further field-based work is needed to determine the extent of its distribution and its ecological requirements, habitat preferences and behaviour.

Comparison to other species. The distribution of D. carpentariensis sp. nov. overlaps a number of other Diporiphora species in the Gulf of Carpentaria region. Very similar morphologically to D. granulifera sp. nov. and remains unclear whether they contact in the central Gulf of Carpentaria region but can be distinguished from this species in having spinose scales on the post-auricular fold, with a single spine clearly larger than the others, and in lacking granular scales extending anteriorly from the scapular fold, and outer scale row in dorsolateral stripes lack raised trailing edge without a strong demarcation from the dorsal to lateral surface. Diporiphora carpentariensis sp. nov. differs from D. jugularis in having a strong scapular fold, granular scales in axilla that extend over shoulder and along scapular fold, scales on flanks relatively homogeneous and lacking a black gular band or black spot on sides of neck. Diporiphora carpentariensis sp. nov. can be distinguished from D. australis in lacking a gular fold and having granular scales in axilla that extend over shoulder and along scapular fold.

Remarks. This species has previously been identified as Diporiphora bilineata . It is probable that animals previously identified as D. bilineata on Cape York Peninsula actually comprise two species: D. carpentariensis sp. nov. and D. jugularis . Phylogenetic work ( Smith et al., 2011) clearly shows that this species in unrelated to either D. bilineata or D. jugularis (fig. 1).

Figures

Figure 21. Diporiphora carpentariensis sp. nov. Image of holotype (QM J88197), Littleton National Park, northern Queensland, a, in life (photo: E. Vanderduys); b, c, d, dorsal, ventral and lateral (head) view of paratype NMV D74068.