Diporiphora pallida, 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 : 52

Diporiphora pallida sp. nov.

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

7967A170-9260-40F9-A895-D5C5041E4729

Common name. Pale two-pored dragon.

Figure 22 , Tables 3, 4

Holotype. WAM R177292 (formerly NMV D73853 ) (adult male), Mitchell Plateau, WA (14° 49.45' S, 125° 42.12' E). Collected by J. Melville on 12 September 2005.

Diagnosis. Small body size (to 46 mm SVL), short tail (2.0 × SVL), robust head and prominent brow above eye. Gular fold strong, post-auricular fold weak, scapular fold present. Single canine in upper jaw, no granular scales in axilla. Pre-cloacal pores 2; femoral pores 0.

Description. Male; 46 mm SVL; 91 mm tail length. Small Diporiphora , robust head with relatively short tail (~2.0 × SVL) and limbs. One canine on either side of upper jaw. Gular fold strong, post-auricular fold weak and scapular fold present. Prominent ridges above eye, extending along canthal ridge to dorsal corner of nasal scale, with short tapered snout. Dorsal scales strongly keeled and homogenous, running parallel to the midline. Scales on flanks homogeneous, keels angled posteriorly and dorsally. One small white spinose scale at back of head sitting on ventral end of post-auricular fold. Lacks spinose scales on limbs or tail. Small scales in axilla but not granular. Ventral scales strongly keeled. Pre-cloacal pores 2; femoral pores 0.

Dorsum relatively plain with little patterning. Broad (~4 scales wide) greyish indistinct vertebral stripe and broad yellow-cream dorsolateral stripes (~3 scales wide) running from back of head to base of tail; dorsolateral stripes continuous from head to mid-dorsum, and from there broken into sections by background colour. 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. Flanks pale without patterning. Lateral stripe between axilla and groin absent. Dark patch in axilla absent. Banding on limbs and tail absent. Ventral surface cream with no patterning.

Variation. This description is based on a single specimen collected on the Mitchell Plateau, thus the variation in this species is unknown.

Etymology. Named for the pale appearance of this species in life. Used as an adjective.

Distribution and ecology. Based on a single animal, D. pallida sp. nov. occurs on the Mitchell Plateau in the northwest Kimberley. This animal was found perched in spinifex grass on a rocky outcrop (pictured in fig. 22). Little is known of this species but it appears to be associated with spinifex grasses on rocky substrates.

Comparison to other species. Unlike other dragons found in the northwest Kimberley, D. pallida sp. nov. appears to be a habitat specialist in spinifex grasses and has a distinctive morphology. Its distribution overlaps with D. margaretae , but differs in having a gular fold. It also differs from D. albilabris , D. bennettii and D. perplexa sp. nov. in having a single canine on either side of upper jaw and further differs from D. albilabris in lacking femoral pores.

Remarks. Genetic analyses indicate that this species is not related to other Diporiphora species in the Kimberley but instead belonging to the arid zone species group containing other spinifex specialist species (e.g. D. linga and D. winneckei ), which occur in arid central Australia. In mtDNA phylogenetic analysis, this species was resolved as the sister to D. paraconvergens , but this relationship was not strongly supported (fig. 1). Diporiphora pallida sp. nov. can be readily distinguished from D. paraconvergens by dorsal scales that run parallel to the midline (vs. converging) and by having a short tail (vs. very long).Based on genetic results and morphological distinctiveness we feel confident that this a new species for the Kimberley region, joining D. convergens as another Diporiphora species known only from the holotype. Further sampling is required to gain a better understanding of the ecology, biology and evolutionary relationships of this little-known species.

Figures

Figure 22. Diporiphora pallida sp. nov. Images of holotype (WAM R177292, formerly MNV D73853), Mitchell Plateau, Western Australia: a, in life (photo: J. Melville); b, c, dorsal and ventral views; d, collection location.