Salea anamallayana (Beddome)

Das, Sunandan, Campbell, Patrick D., Deuti, Kaushik, Bag, Probhat & Raha, Sujoy, 2019, A contribution to the systematics of Salea anamallayana (Beddome, 1878) and S. horsfieldii Gray, 1845 (Squamata: Agamidae: Draconinae), Zootaxa 4563 (3), pp. 563-583 : 573-575

Redescription of Salea anamallayana (Beddome)

Beddome (1878) described Lophosalea anamallayana based on one specimen which was collected from ‘Anamallay Mountains, 6000 feet’. This species was later assigned to Salea by Boulenger (1885). We redescribe the holotype of S. anamallayana , NHM 1946.8.14.84, in detail below. It is in a good state of preservation.

Redescription of the holotype (based on NHM 1946.8.14.84): ( Table 2, Figure 5 ) Adult male; SVL 109 mm; tail moderately long (TL/ SVL 1.44 ); TrL 37.4 mm; body strongly compressed (BW/BH 0.32); head moderately large (HL/SVL 0.30), elongated (HW/HL 0.60) and higher than wide (HW/HH 0.76); eye moderately large (ED/ HL 0.37); diameter of tympanum nearly half that of orbit; EErD lower than ED; END is slightly lower than ED while ESD is greater than ED.

Snout obtusely pointed; rostral nearly thrice wider than high and separated from nasal by one small scale; scales which are just behind the rostral on snout are quite smooth while rest of the scales above snout bear weak keels; scales on snout are not larger than those on occiput; prefrontal region somewhat concave; there are 3 azygous, keeled scales at the centre of the prefrontal region which are a little larger than the adjacent scales; supraocular scales small and keeled; scales on frontal and parietal region subequal and bears keel; no post-orbital spines; canthus rostralis and supracilliary edge sharp; CN (R/L) 4/4; nasal single and hexagonal with an oval nostril; nasal touches 1 st SL only, being prevented from touching 2 nd SL by the 1 st SUB; SUB (R/L) 10/9; 1 small ‘wedge’ scale on left side of head, intercalated between 5 th and 6 th SL and 6 th and 7 th SUB; SL (R/L) 6/7, SL squarish except the 1 st and the last ones which are wedge-shaped; tympanum exposed; 3 large scales with convex centre from behind orbit to above tympanum; no supra-tympanic spines; mental subpentagonal, two postmentals behind; IL (R/L) 7/7; gular scales smooth and not mucronate; prominent gular sac extends up to anterior part of chest; scales situated towards the posterior end of gular sac are faintly keeled and slightly mucronate; no transverse fold across gular region.

Very prominent nuchal and dorsal crests are continuous and formed of 18 lanceolate spines from nuchal region to sacrum; the crest extends for about half length of tail; spines of nuchal, dorsal and tail crests are formed of a single, flat, spinous scale with 2 or 3 keeled upward directed scales at the basal region (on both sides) of each spine; longest nuchal and dorsal spines around one and half times the diameter of the orbit; spines on the basal one third of tail are almost as long as dorsal spines.

Ante-humeral fold covered with very small scales present; dorsal scales unequal—those on paravertebral region directed upward and keeled whereas flank scales are more variable in terms of size, carination and direction, being a mixture of different sized, smooth or keeled, upward or backward or downward directed scales; dorsal scales are strongly imbricate; scales become more uniform in size towards ventrolateral sides of trunk; keeled, imbricate and mucronate scales cover the ventrolateral sides and venter; SM 36; VEN 57.

Forearm and upper arm subsequent (FAL/UAL 0.96); femur a little longer than crus (FL/CL 1.24); scales covering fore- and hindlimbs rhomboid, keeled and imbricate; five slender, clawed digits on manus and pes, covered below with bicarinate lamellae; FnLam (R/L) 20/20, TLam (R/L) 25/22.

Strongly compressed tail covered with rhomboid, keeled, imbricate scales; crest on the dorsal surface of tail has been described.

After almost 140 years of preservation, the colour patterns are still evident; scales on top of head brown, some with yellow centre; lips and cheek below tympanum white; sutures of SL black; gular region white; ante-humeral fold black; 3 dark brown chevrons with black margins and narrow white interspaces on dorsum, these chevrons terminate at flank; ventrolateral sides of flank and venter white; limbs possess brown bands with black borders which are separated with narrow white interspaces; tail is alternatively banded with brown and brownish cream; spines of nuchal, dorsal and tail crest brown.

Variations: Ranges of morphometric and meristic data of all Salea anamallayana specimens studied by us are summarized in Table 2. S . anamallayana shows sexual dimorphism. Males possess dorsal crest which continues over tail. However, females possess a low nuchal crest composed of 3–6 spines. Unlike adult females of S. horsfieldii which possess a serrated ridge along dorsal midline, S. anamallayana females do not usually possess such a ridge, scales along dorsal midline being similar to other dorsal scales. Gular sac is also small in females.

In Salea anamallayana , colour and pattern is highly variable. The commonest pattern resembles the colour pattern of the holotype. A different colour pattern was observed in two female specimens (NHM 1891.7.2.2 and ZSI 19706). In these specimens, dorsum is light greyish white (in preservative) with 3 chevrons formed by black reticulations, reticulations being prominent towards the anterior edge of each chevron. Several scales on flank are edged with black or bear black spots ( Figure 6 ). The overall effect of this colour pattern is a black-and-white mosaic pattern.

The ‘wedge’ scales are more common in this species. Although 7 out of 12 studied specimens have these scales, in most of the cases these are merely the result of the fragmentation of the suboculars.

The extent of carination of gular scales shows a little variation; while most of the gular scales (except those on gular sac) are quite smooth in some specimens, most are weakly keeled in others. In this species the gular scales are not usually mucronate.

Distribution: Salea anamallayana is found in Western Ghats south of the Palghat gap ( Figure 6 ). It has so far been recorded from Anaimalai, Palni, Meghamalai and Travancore hill ranges of western Tamil Nadu and Kerala ( India) ( Das 2002; Srinivas et al. 2008). Srinivas et al. (2008) suggested that this species may be found in Agyasthamalai hills south of Shencottah gap.

Natural history: Salea anamallayana is a denizen of montane ‘shola’ forests and tea gardens of southern Western Ghats ( Deepak & Vasudevan 2008). It is found between 1700 meters 2500 meters altitude ( Bhupathy & Kannan 1997; Srinivasulu et al. 2014). This is an insectivorous arboreal lizard which remains active during the daytime ( Das 2002). The egg laying season is April when the female produce up to 3 clutches with each clutch consisting of 3– 5 eggs ( Bhupathy & Kannan 1997; Das 2002).

Figures

FIGURE 5. Holotype of Salea anamallayana (NHM 1946.8.14.84) (Dorsal view of body [A], lateral view of trunk [B] and head [C]).

FIGURE 6. Unusual coloration of a Salea anamallayana specimen (ZSI 19706) (Dorsal view of body [A] and head [B])